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Council polls soon in Vavuniya, Jaffna districts

COLOMBO: Cracks surfaced in the post-Prabakaran LTTE on Monday with TamilNet questioning the statement made by the head of LTTE’s Department of International Relations, K. Pathmanathan, “confirming” the news of death of the LTTE chief.

In a report posted on its website, TamilNet said the Intelligence Department of the Tigers had reiterated that the LTTE leadership was safe and it would re-emerge when the right time came. “However, the LTTE’s Department for Diaspora Affairs (DDA) told TamilNet that it would not comment without explicit authorisation from the LTTE leadership,” it said.

Hours after the military announced the death of Prabakaran on May 19, Pathmanathan said the LTTE chief was alive. But he took the world by surprise on May 24 confirming the death.

Political observers here see the contradictory statements from LTTE leaders as a sign of rift within the Tamil Diaspora ranks.

“Tamil Nadu leaders, Mr. Vaiko and Mr. Pazha Nedumaran have expressed scepticism [on] Sunday on the reports of Mr. Pirapaharan’s [Prabakaran] demise,” said TamilNet.

The developments came amid indications by Colombo that it intended to hold by August local council elections in Vavuniya and Jaffna districts.

Elections for the rest of the councils in the Northern Province, where most people are displaced and currently housed in temporary government welfare villages, are to take place later. On the eve of a special session, sponsored by 17 countries of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, on Sri Lanka in Geneva, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative Dayan Jayatilleka has criticised the sponsors of the session as “Western colonisers” who refused to consult the Asian bloc.

A statement issued by Colombo quoted Mr. Jayatilleka as asking how “distant states could know better than Sri Lanka’s neighbouring states, who agreed with its positions?”

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