LTTE remnants regrouping?

A month after their defeat in the hands of the Sri Lankan army, the remnants of the LTTE plan to re-organise and pursue the goal of a separate Tamil state from abroad, with the rebels' international relations chief Selvaras Pathmanathan taking the lead.

"The struggle of the people of Tamil Eelam has reached a new stage. It is time now for us to move forward with our political vision towards our freedom," Pathmanathan said in an e-mail audio file that has flown around the Tamil diaspora, the British media, including BBC and The Times, reported.

Pathmanathan, who is wanted by Interpol in connection with his role as the Tigers' main arms smuggler, gave no indication that the group would renounce violence but announced the establishment of a "provisional transnational government of Tamil Eelam".

He said Rudrakumaran Vishwanathan, their overseas-based legal adviser, would head a committee which would decide on a future course of action "within democratic principles".
Tamil Eelam is the name given by the Tigers to the north and eastern areas of Sri Lanka to which they lay claim.

Pathmanathan is one of a handful of senior cadres who escaped annihilation last month because he is based overseas. It is not clear from where has he issued the message, media reports said.
In the final phase of the battle, the troops eliminated the top Tamil Tiger leadership, including its supreme Velupillai Prabhakaran.

The Sri Lankan government has dismissed the so-called 'provisional transnational' government, pointing out that the LTTE does not exist any more.

"The LTTE is no longer a factor. It was military defeated and it cannot achieve a separate state even if it had the military prowess What can it do it now?" Lankan Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa was quoted as saying.

The pro-LTTE TamilNet did not carry Pathmanathan's statement and it is not clear if he is really in charge of the rebel remnants.

However, in a column, it has said the "need of the time now is the metamorphosis of the existing infrastructure into a democratic and inclusive transnational government of Eezham Tamils to strengthen the diaspora socially, economically and culturally; to achieve the goal of independence and sovereignty of Eezham Tamils in the home country and to meetthe international challenges internationally."

The Tamil diaspora, mostly in Canada, Australia and UK, has been donating millions of dollars for the LTTE cause.

The Tigers are a banned terrorist group in most Western countries. Last week, the founder of the British Tamil Association was sentenced to two years in jail for illegally procuring electrical components for the group.