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While rejecting Colombo’s claim of the killing of LTTE leader V. Pirapaharan and assuring his safety and well-being, LTTE’s International Relations Head S. Pathmanathan Tuesday accused Colombo of treachery in the killing of the political wing leaders B. Nadesan and S. Puleedevan. Mr. Pathmanathan said it is a crime against humanity that needs to be investigated. Meanwhile, informed sources told TamilNet that what happened in the early hours of Monday was a well-planned massacre of several unarmed civil officers of the LTTE with the aim of annihilating its political structure. At the orders of a ‘top defence figure,’ an international arrangement involving ICRC, European diplomats and a Colombo government diplomat to arrange safe exit to the civil officers was defied, the sources said.
Political observers compared Monday’s massacre with the prison massacre of Tamil liberation fighters in 1983 and events leading to the collective death of 12 senior leaders and cadres of the LTTE in 1987.
Tamil circles also commented that any surrender of the LTTE as pressed by the International Community would have seen a similar fate to its cadres, had it been heeded.
The clarifications from Mr. Pathmanathan follow:
Statement 1:
I wish to inform the Global Tamil community distressed witnessing the final events of the war that our beloved leader Velupillai Pirapaharan is alive and safe. He will continue to lead the quest for dignity and freedom for the Tamil people.
The President and the Government of Sri Lanka needing to carry on and gloat in the planned Victory Celebrations on Tuesday, had their military establishment deliberately come up with the story detailing the demise of the leader of the LTTE. We categorically reject this and wish to inform the Tamil community to be vigilant and to exercise maximum restraint whilst grieving for the loss of Tamil civilian lives in the barbaric conduct of the final chapters of this battle.
The Tamil freedom struggle is a just cause and will not be quashed by the events of the last 24 hours. Truth and justice will always prevail.
Statement 2:
We wish to bring to the notice of the International Community the events of the last 24 hours in the so called safety zone in the war in Sri Lanka.
Subsequent to our announcement that the LTTE had decided to “silence the guns” in view of the unbearable civilian carnage at the hands of the Sri Lankan military and the heavy weaponry donated to it by third parties, we were informed by some member states of the International Community that arrangements had been made with the Sri Lankan military for discussions on an orderly end to the war.
We were instructed to make contact with the 58th Division of the Sri Lankan forces in the war zone, un-armed and carrying white flags. Head of our Political Wing, Mr. B. Nadesan and Mr. Puleedevan then proceeded to do so. They were un-armed and carrying white flags and were called on by the Officers of the 58th Division to come forward for discussions. When they complied they were both shot and killed. We vehemently condemn this action. The International Community needs to take this into account in its deliberations about charges of “Crimes against Humanity” against the members of the Sri Lanka Government and its military establishment. This act is even more unpalatable when one takes into account that the LTTE released as an act of goodwill, seven Sri Lankan Prisoners of War the day before totally unharmed.
We appeal to the International Community to act now to ensure the safety and basic needs of the displaced people who are suffering in the prison camps of the Sri Lankan military. The onus is now on the International Community to see that further war crimes and crimes against humanity are not committed on Tamils by the Sri Lankan state and to force the Sri Lankan state to yield in to the political aspirations of the Tamil people.
courtesy: TamilNet
From the Desk of the Central Committee of the Rural People’s Party
May 17th, 2009 (98 Juche) – RPP will continue to support the LTTE unremittingly and fully during this critical point as they face a potential White Night and are forced to move into phases of unconventional warfare. Our hearts go out to the families of the civilians trapped in the war-zone by the SLA and facing internment at the hands of the Sinhalese bourgeois dictatorship. Barack Obama and U.S. Hegemonic Imperialism continues to back Rajpaksa’s government and take an anti-LTTE stance even as thousands of innocent men, women and children perish at the hands of heavy-shelling amidst the Sinhalese ethnic genocide campaign against the oppressed Tamil minority population. Any suicide that may take place will be in certainty a revolutionary suicide and, with the spirit of the martyrs sacrifice, the mood of the Vedic kshatriya will rise en masse across the planet because there are millions willing to see Tamil Eelam become reality. No force of oppression will stop such unceasing waves and the atrocities of the Sri Lankan government will not be forgotten. The Black Tiger will continue to roar in Sri Lanka! Up with Tamil Eelam!
Rural People’s Party: http://ruralpeople.atspace.org
Fears of mass suicide as Tamil Tigers face final defeat: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6301821.ece
US Committee to Support the LTTE encourages ALL LTTE SUPPORTERS to do whatever they can to INCREASE THE PRESSURE ON WASHINGTON D.C. including but not limited to attending in person as are the individuals pictured above at protests in the capital area.
Recruit others to accompany you to the protest, because at present anyone who stands against genocide and world superpowers turning a blind eye to the indiscriminate ethnic slaughter of Tamils in Sri Lanka need to be involved and should have clarified for their full understanding the situation as it is unfolding.
Monday early hours around 3:00 a.m. Vanni local time, the LTTE Political Chief B. Nadesan and LTTE Peace Secretariat Director S. Puleedevan telephoned their contacts in Europe and informed them to tell the ICRC Head Office that only around 1,000 wounded cadres, civil officials of the LTTE and civilians remained in the so-called safety zone and there was no firing from the LTTE side. They urged the ICRC to evacuate the wounded. A few hours later, Colombo’s Defence Ministry website claimed finding the dead bodies of Mr. Nadesan, Mr. Puleedevan, Mr. Ilango (Tamileelam Police Chief), and LTTE Leader V. Pirapaharan’s son Mr. Charles Antony. The LTTE is yet to confirm, but initial reports indicate a determined massacre by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA).
On Sunday, SLA Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka told AFP that he will not allow the LTTE to ‘regroup’ and will ensure that there is ‘no future’ for the Tigers.
He also said that “the firm decision of the political hierarchy not to go for talks with the LTTE terrorists until they lay down arms had contributed significantly to all these war victories.”
During the last week both Nadesan and LTTE’s International Relations Head S. Pathmanathan were welcoming the call by the US President Barack Obama and were expressing the willingness of the LTTE to heed his request.
However, Colombo has decided not to allow any opportunity for the LTTE to negotiate and to annihilate its leadership.
Both Obama’s call and the LTTE’s favourable response were not honoured by Colombo.
Incessant Waves: LTTE Support Project 