The Hindu : Front Page : Batticaloa LTTE leader killed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 08, 2005

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Batticaloa LTTE leader killed

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO, FEB. 7. A key eastern political wing leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), E. Kousalyan, was killed in an ambush this evening, along with five other LTTE cadres.

Mr. Kousalyan, political wing leader for the Batticaloa-Amparai district, was travelling towards the eastern Batticaloa district in a van when he was killed in the ambush at 7.45 p.m., eastern police sources said.

The ambush occurred at Welikanda in the Sinhalese-majority Polonnaruwa district, adjoining Batticaloa.

Mr. Kousalyan was reportedly returning from the LTTE-held northern Vanni region after a meeting of regional leaders.

A former MP from the LTTE-backed Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Ariynayagam Chandraneru, was critically injured in the attack, police said.

Supporters of the LTTE's former special commander, V. Muralitharan (`Col.' Karuna), are suspected to be behind today's ambush.

Today's killing is the biggest strike against the LTTE's eastern leadership after months of reduced levels of violence in the eastern district following last year's rebellion by `Col.' Karuna.

The TamilNet website said Mr. Kousalyan was the "seniormost LTTE leader to be killed after the Government and the LTTE signed a ceasefire agreement in February 2002."

According to military observers, today's ambush has the potential to weaken the Tigers in the east, as Mr. Kousalyan was "one of the few persons from Batticaloa to continue with the LTTE after `Col.' Karuna's rebellion".

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