Posted on 01/20/2005 11:08:38 PM PST by HAL9000
COLOMBO: The reclusive leader of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas has appeared in public for the first time since the tsunami, quelling rumours that he had been killed in the disaster, a pro-rebel website reported.Velupillai Prabhakaran had met relief workers in the northern town of Kilinochchi on Monday, Tamilnet.com said. It carried a picture showing him in combat fatigues chairing a meeting.
"Although our people have suffered through severe hardships, we are shocked by the scale of destruction and loss of life the tsunami has inflicted on our people," it quoted Prabhakaran as saying.
Rumours that Prabhakaran had been among the more than 38,000 Sri Lankans killed in the tsunami have swirled around Colombo and were once even reported by the state radio.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fought a bloody two-decade war for autonomy for the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka's north and east. A ceasefire has been in force for the past three years.
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