Padmanathan takes over as new LTTE chief

The LTTE has officially appointed its international relations chief Selvarasa Padmanathan, alias KP, as the group’s new head.

"We, the executive committee of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, wish to officially let our beloved Tamil people and the international community know that Selvarasa Pathmanathan, who had been appointed as head of international relations by our national leader, will lead us into the next steps of our freedom struggle according to the vision of our esteemed leader,” an LTTE statement said on Tuesday evening.

The statement also declared the LTTE had set up a new headquarter at an undisclosed location.

Its previous headquarters of Killinochi was overrun by the Sri Lankan army in January. This was before the Lankan forces captured the entire territory held by the Tamil Tigers later in May.

"We have set up a head office for our liberation movement and formulated various sector-based working groups and an executive committee to take our struggle vigorously forward. We shall share the details of these in due course,” the statement said.

The Sri Lankan army completely defeated the LTTE militarily and killed a majority of its top leaders and commanders earlier this year. This included its chief V. Prabhakaran. But the organisation's support base in the Tamil diaspora across the globe is still strong.

The LTTE is banned in over 30 countries, including the US, UK and India. Its new head Padmanathan is a fugitive wanted by the Interpol. He is accused of gun-running and money laundering for the LTTE.

The LTTE has vowed to renew its fight for a free Tamil Eelam. The statement comes even as Sri Lanka has launched a diplomatic offensive to crack down on the remnants of the LTTE overseas.

The LTTE has already declared that it would shun violence and strive to attain its goal of an independent "Tamil Eelam" through non-violent means. It has set up a committee headed by its legal advisor Rudrakumar Vishwanathan to set up a "transnational government" in exile.

"If the Sinhala nation and those countries that support it consider that the Tamil people's freedom struggle has been defeated through the capture of historical homeland areas of the Tamil people and the massacre of thousands of Tamil civilians, we shall shatter that illusion,” the statement said.