Sri Lanka ropes in former Tiger leader to gain support of Tamil diaspora

The Sri Lankan government has roped in former Tiger leader Kumaran Pathmanathan, once a close aide of Velupillai Prabhakaran, to mobilise the Tamil diaspora for its support and is using his 'data base' on the LTTE to crush its international network.

Detained LTTE leader Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP), former chief of LTTE's international wing, is now reportedly leading efforts to bring together Tiger sympathisers to assist in rebuilding the war-torn northern areas that were once their stronghold.

Defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said the government was working with KP in a strategic manner to mobilise the support of the Tamil diaspora, but denied reports that it had formed an 'alliance' with the LTTE remnants, the state-run Sunday Observer said.

KP was appointed chief of the LTTE's international activities by Prabhakaran during the last phase of the war, shortly before the LTTE chief was killed along with most of the Tiger leadership.

"We must remember that three groups — Global Tamil Forum, and two factions led by Rudrakumar and Nediyawan — are still active and propagating the LTTE's separatist ideologies. The truth needs to be revealed to the world," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Rajapaksa denied that the government was grooming KP to be the chief minister of the Northern Province but said it was exploring his 'data base' on the LTTE to crush its international network.

Rajapaksa said a Tamil diaspora group known to KP had visited Sri Lanka and been persuaded by him to deviate from their confrontational attitude towards the government.

"KP told them categorically that there was no point in reviving the LTTE's separatist ideology," he said.

According to the defence secretary, KP told the Tamil diaspora representatives that nothing had been gained from the 30-year conflict but destruction and a bleak future for the Tamils in the north and the east.

Pathmanathan, the former chief arms smuggler for the rebels, was reportedly taken into custody last August in a Southeast Asian country and brought to Sri Lanka.

He said the talks with the visiting Tamil diaspora were successful and they had discussed the issues of humanitarian concern and expressed their willingness to cooperate with the government.