History and origins of the LTTE

Yusuf

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WASHINGTON: With Sri Lankan troops “hammering them”, the LTTE, which has “logistical and training infrastructure” in India, is using the country

just like the Taliban and al-Qaida use Pakistan, a leading US think tank has claimed.

“Support in Tamil Nadu means that the Tigers can — and do — exploit the international border to their advantage. The Tigers use India in much the same way that the Taliban and al-Qaida use Pakistan,” Stratfor said in its latest report ‘The Conflict in Sri Lanka: A Cornered Tiger Is Still Deadly’.

“The Tigers’ logistical and training infrastructure in India is especially important during times (like the present) when the Sri Lankan government is hammering them. The Tigers also have a long history of working with an array of other militant groups in India and the general region,” it said.

The Texas based agency said the cooperation between militant groups in India and the LTTE is not based on ideology, but rather on mutual benefit, such as bolstering the groups’ ability to smuggle weapons and other goods. Stratfor said if Lankan troops manage to crush the remnants of the Tigers’ military forces, “the Tigers will have little choice but to give up on conventional warfare (at least for the time being).”

It, however, said Tigers would not fade into history and will melt back into the populace just like the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I think this is an absurd assessment by Stratfor. LTTE is a declared terrorist organization in India. While the LTTE does have some sympathizers in Tamil Nadu, there is no infrastructure like the ones in Pakistan to train.
India has to strongly protest such assessment from the US (un)think tank.
 

nitesh

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ha ha ha how the comparison can be made both organizations are terrorist organizations that's it. Where as one country allows for "peace accords" and give them legitimacy whereas other helps the effected country in battleing the insurgency. Not a good analysis
 

Su-47

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i have seen a water tank with more brains than that think tank!

India has declared LTTE a terrorist organisation and Indian nave patrols the waters betwen india and sri lanka. I'd like to see how that LTTE scum can come and train in India.

Ministers like Karunanidhi and other LTTE supporters should be crucified and burned.
 

Flint

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i have seen a water tank with more brains than that think tank!

India has declared LTTE a terrorist organisation and Indian nave patrols the waters betwen india and sri lanka. I'd like to see how that LTTE scum can come and train in India.

Ministers like Karunanidhi and other LTTE supporters should be crucified and burned.
Might be counterproductive considering his stature and popularity in TN.
 
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this is all part of the idiots policy of attaching all the problems in pakistan having a root in India or being the same as India ,equal-equal policy is back thanks to Obummer.
 

ahmedsid

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I am sure there are no Open LTTE training camps in TN, unlike in POK, where LeT has a free run. Yes, there are LTTE supporters, and actions are being taken against them. But India, knows that the aspirations of the tamil population in Sri Lanka must be respected. Besides, we have an axe to grind with LTTE for murdering our PM Rajiv Gandhi!

The current Sri Lankan onslaught against LTTE is fed by the Chinese and Pakistanis. USA doesnt see this. I so Wish Mccain Was President!!!
 
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If LTTE did train in India and were sent to Pakistan might be a good counter to the terror Pakistan is sending,don't send them against sri Lanka but send them against Pakistan. I think this US think tank is hinting at at something.
 

RPK

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LTTE News-Sri Lanka

LTTE's intl network remains intact: Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: Observing that the LTTE's international network in Europe remains "intact" even two months after its military defeat, Sri Lanka has asked

the European Union to act against people connected with the outfit.

Sri Lankan Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the EU Ravinatha Aryasinha said though the military capacity of the LTTE has been "destroyed" the outfit's "international network, particularly in Europe, remains well intact."

"Unless the EU acts urgently to arrest this trend, the situation could get worse," Aryasinha told Members of the European Parliament (MEP).

He also asked the EU member states to use "all their influence" on Tamils of Sri Lankan origin in the continent to support Colombo to rebuild the war-ravaged northen Lanka.

"Tamils in Europe majority of whom still remain in the category of refugees should be asked to support peace in Sri Lanka," he said.

Aryasinha was addressing the cross-party 'Friends of Sri Lanka' group of the European Parliament held on the sidelines of the inaugural session of the newly elected European Parliament in Strasbourg late last week.

"It is 8 weeks since the guns fell silent in Wanni and the government is doing all it can to ameliorate the lot of he displaced Tamils," he said.
 

RPK

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Tamils look for leadership after Tigers

Tamils look for leadership after Tigers

By Swaminathan Natarajan
BBC Tamil

The military defeat of the Tamil Tigers in May has thrown the leadership of Tamil politics wide open.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) never took part in elections but at its peak it had a standing army, a navy, a rudimentary air force and was able to control 15,000 sq km of land.

The LTTE proclaimed itself to be the sole representative of the Tamils and killed many leaders and intellectuals who differed from this view.

The last popular democratic leader of Tamils, Appapillai Amirthalingam, who led the moderate Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) was assassinated 20 years ago by the LTTE.

To avoid the the Tigers' bullets some politicians toed the LTTE line, others aligned themselves with the government to get protection, while others simply left the country.

So there is uncertainty over who will be the able to fill the vacuum created by the exit of the LTTE which dominated ethnic politics for more than two decades.

Whoever does emerge into a position of leadership will face many challenges.

Pressure power

Finding an acceptable solution to the ethnic problem is the main issue for Tamil parties.

But speeding up the resettlement process of close 300,000 people now living in the camps is the immediate challenge.

The LTTE's aim was for an independent Tamil homeland.

During the Oslo round of talks in 2003 , it said it was ready to explore the chances for a federal solution but this assurance was short-lived and the peace process stalled.

But now that the LTTE have been wiped-out, Tamil political parties are pressing for greater devolution, but they fear a triumphant Sri Lankan Government may not yield much.

Moreover, the Tamil parties themselves are divided about what exactly they want from a political deal.

"Due to effective military actions, LTTE was able to force the government to start talks. But today there is no leadership that can exert such a pressure," says K Sarveshwaran, a professor at Colombo University.

Federal Sri Lanka?

The pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA), an umbrella group of Tamil parties, secured 22 out of 23 seats in the Tamil majority areas of the north and east during the last parliamentary elections.

It is trying to assume a leadership role by proposing a solution.

"Our proposals will be based on the Canadian and Swiss model of power sharing in a federal set up. We will try to build a consensus among the Tamil parties barring the ones which support the ruling party," says R Sampanthan, the leader of the TNA.

But the senior Tamil politician and leader of Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) V. Anandasangaree, has already rejected the TNA's call for unity.

"During the final months of the war, the whole world was urging the LTTE to release the civilians they kept as hostage. The TNA was the only organisation which did not ask the LTTE to free civilians. How can I forget that and ally with them now?" he asks.

“ When LTTE was controlling a large chunk of territory and negotiating with the government we supported them. But now the situation is different ”
R Sampanthan, Leader of the TNA
He believes the Indian model of power sharing between the central and state governments will solve the problems in Sri Lanka.

But the Sinhala hardliners in the government are not keen to dilute the unitary structure of the Sri Lankan state.

The All Party Representative Committee set up by the President is also expected to come out with its final report soon, but there is scepticism that it can pull off the feat of satisfying Tamils while not ruffling feathers in the Sinhala South.

End to violence

Former militant leaders like Douglas Devananda and Vinayagamurthy Muralitharan ("Colonel Karuna") have joined the government. Col Karuna has even joined the ruling party.

However, there is also some interest in whether the remnants of the Tamil Tigers, including its remaining leadership abroad, will have any influence on events in Sri Lanka

The head of LTTE's international affairs Selvarasa Pathmanathan, told the BBC's Tamil Service, that the LTTE would pursue the goal of independence but would not use violence.

He even announced his intention to form a transnational government.

But many Tamils in Sri Lanka are not excited. Even the pro-LTTE TNA is asserting itself.

"When the LTTE was controlling a large chunk of territory and negotiating with the government we supported them. But now the situation is different," Mr. Sampanthan the TNA leader says.

But signs of dissent have emerged among TNA parliamentarians.

Some MPs have started praising the government and a few others have toned down their criticism.

But Professor Sarveshwaran says that the TNA can provide leadership to the Tamils at this critical juncture.

"The TNA won the confidence of majority of Tamils in the last elections. It can spearhead the Tamil demand to achieve an honourable settlement," he says.

The TNA is engaging the Indian government in an effort to bring pressure upon the Sri Lankan government.

But some are critical of this approach.

"Ordinary Tamils are angry with India. Without the help of India, the Sri Lankan Army would have never won the war," says one MP.

But Professor Sarveshawaran says "We must remember that even those countries which have supported Sri Lankan military efforts against the LTTE never questioned the validity of the Tamil cause."

"The Tamil problem predates the Tamil Tigers. A solution needs to be found for their aspirations. There is a leadership vacuum now but this is only temporary."
 

RPK

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Sri Lanka's defeated Tamil rebels name new leader

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's defeated Tamil Tiger rebels have named a man accused of running a vast arms smuggling operation as their new leader, two months after government forces crushed the separatist movement.

The new leader has pledged to remake the insurgents into a nonviolent separatist movement.

Selvarasa Pathmanathan was the rebels' chief of international relations and allegedly ran an international weapons smuggling ring. The Sri Lankan government has appealed to foreign governments to find and arrest him.

Pathmanathan "will lead us into the next steps of our freedom struggle according to the vision of our esteemed leader," said the Tiger's executive committee in a statement released Tuesday.

He replaces Velupillai Prabhakaran, the cult-like figure who led the Tigers for decades before being shot dead by Sri Lankan forces in May.

The defeated Tigers said they have set up a head office and an executive committee to move forward their campaign for an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, who have claimed discrimination at the hands of Sri Lanka's majority Sinhalese.

Pathmanathan said earlier the Tigers would abandon their armed struggle and use nonviolence to achieve their goals, and he promised the group would reorganize itself based on democratic principles — a major change from Prabhakaran's dictatorial leadership style.

"Like all liberation struggles, we will modify the form and strategies of our struggle according to times and demands," the statement said.

The government declared in May that its forces had crushed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and ended the civil war that began in 1983.

The rebels once controlled a shadow state across northern Sri Lanka backed by thousands of guerrilla fighters, a navy and even a nascent air force. In the final days of the battle, the military killed much of the senior Tiger leadership, including Prabhakaran.

About 10,000 former insurgents are held in government custody.

It was not immediately clear whether Pathmanathan would get the support of an estimated 800,000 Tamil expatriates living in Britain, Canada, Australia and other countries.

Signs have emerged that the Tamil diaspora is divided over whom to support. The TamilNet Web site, seen as a mouthpiece for the rebels, has refused to carry statements from Pathmanathan.

Reports have surfaced that many Tamils are furious with Pathmanathan for quickly acknowledging Prabhakaran's death while others refused to believe the rebel chief had been killed.
 

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