The Hindu : International : Karuna may launch political party

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 20, 2004

International

International

Karuna may launch political party

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO, JUNE 19. The former eastern military leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, V. Muralitharan (Col. Karuna), is likely to launch a political party, a newspaper report said today.

The independent Daily Mirror, in a front-page report, said that Mr. Muralitharan, who broke ranks with the Tigers on March 3 and ended a month-long resistance from the rebel-held jungle tracts in the eastern Batticaloa district in April, "is reportedly busy forming a new political party." There has been no official comment since April from either Mr. Muralitharan or his spokesman.

Under law, even if he starts a party, he would not be able to register it until the conclusion of the local body polls in the north-east, a Tamil political analyst pointed out. The polls have pending for the last two years. However, if he formed a party, the ground situation in the east would undergo a further change, the analyst said.

Batticaloa, partly held by the Government, was considered an easy take-over for the LTTE, but the ground situation has changed drastically since March 3. After ending his month-long defiance, Mr. Muralitharan disbanded his forces and vanished without a trace. Since then, there have been reports of isolated attacks on the LTTE, probably by his supporters.

Military analysts are of the view that his fighters could easily return to "something they are very comfortable with — hit and run warfare," thereby reintroducing the prospects of guerrilla attacks on an already fragile eastern security situation.

LTTE's warning

Meanwhile, the LTTE's new Special Commander for Batticaloa-Amparai, Ramesh, today warned of "serious repercussions'' if the Sri Lankan Government "tries to wage a war'' against the Tigers by "making use of Karuna."

A report in the TamilNet website quoted `Col.' Ramesh as telling reporters that the rebels had "confirmed reports'' that the Sri Lanka Army was "giving shelter to Karuna'' and that the military was "trying to use him against'' the Tigers.

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