LTTE wants India’s help to stop military ops

Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, engaged in fierce gun-battles with security forces in the island nation’s embattled north, want India to intervene to halt the clashes between the warring sides, a leading daily here has claimed.

“As the LTTE is currently facing a series of setbacks in the (rebel stronghold of) Wanni warfront with senior LTTE military leaders killed by the security forces, the LTTE is once again seeking India’s help to stop the ongoing military operations,” the Daily Mirror said. Besides, the paper claimed, “the Tigers’ political wing had initiated a campaign to pressurise the Indian central Government to take action in this regard.”

“In order to achieve this goal, the LTTE is using several channels for the purpose and mainly the pro-LTTE politicians in Tamil Nadu,” the report said, adding the pro-rebel MDMK leader Vaiko had made several statements to this effect. “Knowing that the Indian Government can put pressure on the Sri Lankan Government, it is learnt that the Tigers are expecting to use the opportunity to come into a Ceasefire Agreement,” the paper said in an editorial on Friday.

The daily recalled that the LTTE’s ‘Peace Secretary’ S Pulidevan had recently said the rebels would wait for the

Norwegian facilitators to be granted access to Kilinochchi to further discuss issues relating to negotiations.

The LTTE’s political head B Nadesan late last month had denounced Sri Lankan Government’s plan for power devolution under which local elections were held recently in the East, saying “Tamil sovereignty and the right to self-determination” were key issues for a negotiated settlement to the ethnic problem.

Under Sri Lanka’s policy of implementation of the 13th amendment, Provincial Council elections for the East took place on May 10, leading to anti-LTTE party TMVP leader Pillayan becoming its Chief Minister.

Source: indianexpress