And where is Prabakaran?
May 17, 2009 12:41 pm
As the curtains fall on the conventional war against the LTTE, the million-dollar question on everyone’s mind is the whereabouts of the maverick LTTE supremo, Velupillai Prabakaran.
Wife of Sea Tiger chief Soosai, who was caught by the Navy on Friday, told her interrogators he was inside the war zone. However, the troops have not been able to zero in on him or any of his family members till Saturday night.
The LTTE is a monolithic outfit with a single leader and no second-in-command. It was only logical that it was Prabakaran throughout the Eelam phase IV which commenced in August 2006. Therein lies the significance of the question where he could be and what he is plotting. Either he is in the battle zone or has made good his escape long before the military marched into the last remaining territory under occupation of the Tigers.
Those who believe he is very much in the thick of the last moments of the war and those convinced that he has vanished long before offer sound logic to buttress their thesis.
The military commanders on the ground believe Prabakaran is among the remaining cadre and leaders.
It is essentially based on the premise that the Tigers would not continue their resistance in the face of inevitable elimination in the hands of the military unless Prabakaran is present amid them.
The last time the military believes they almost got the LTTE chief was sometime in the second week of April. That was days before Puthukudirippuu, the last major township under the control of the Tigers, fell to the troops. The commanders on the ground are working on the assumption that Prabakaran slipped out three or four days before the troops encircled the town. It was in this area the troops discovered the underground luxury bunkers from where Prabakaran presumably operated.
Ever since, no one has heard him on intercepted communications or seen him on images taken by satellites or unmanned aerial vehicles. Senior functionaries of the LTTE, Daya Master and George Master, who surrendered to the military in the fourth week of April, have not thrown much light on Prabakaran’s whereabouts.
In the event of Prabakaran still being there, questions arise. Would he surrender? Would he swallow the cyanide capsule he wears around his neck or shoot himself?
His former trusted lieutenants like “Colonel” Karuna and arch rival and Minister, Doughlas Devananda say Prabakaran does not have the courage to face death and would escape or has already escaped from the battle scene.
The possibility that Prabakaran is no longer in the battle zone gained credence on the night of May 15 when the Navy identified the family members of LTTE’s Sea Tiger wing leader Soosai when they rescued a boat carrying 11 civilians.
The question being posed is whether Prabakaran would have allowed one of his senior leaders to send away his family members. As of now, all these possibilities are speculation and the air would clear in a matter of days, if not hours. – (The Hindu)
http://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=3259
May 17, 2009 12:41 pm
As the curtains fall on the conventional war against the LTTE, the million-dollar question on everyone’s mind is the whereabouts of the maverick LTTE supremo, Velupillai Prabakaran.
Wife of Sea Tiger chief Soosai, who was caught by the Navy on Friday, told her interrogators he was inside the war zone. However, the troops have not been able to zero in on him or any of his family members till Saturday night.
The LTTE is a monolithic outfit with a single leader and no second-in-command. It was only logical that it was Prabakaran throughout the Eelam phase IV which commenced in August 2006. Therein lies the significance of the question where he could be and what he is plotting. Either he is in the battle zone or has made good his escape long before the military marched into the last remaining territory under occupation of the Tigers.
Those who believe he is very much in the thick of the last moments of the war and those convinced that he has vanished long before offer sound logic to buttress their thesis.
The military commanders on the ground believe Prabakaran is among the remaining cadre and leaders.
It is essentially based on the premise that the Tigers would not continue their resistance in the face of inevitable elimination in the hands of the military unless Prabakaran is present amid them.
The last time the military believes they almost got the LTTE chief was sometime in the second week of April. That was days before Puthukudirippuu, the last major township under the control of the Tigers, fell to the troops. The commanders on the ground are working on the assumption that Prabakaran slipped out three or four days before the troops encircled the town. It was in this area the troops discovered the underground luxury bunkers from where Prabakaran presumably operated.
Ever since, no one has heard him on intercepted communications or seen him on images taken by satellites or unmanned aerial vehicles. Senior functionaries of the LTTE, Daya Master and George Master, who surrendered to the military in the fourth week of April, have not thrown much light on Prabakaran’s whereabouts.
In the event of Prabakaran still being there, questions arise. Would he surrender? Would he swallow the cyanide capsule he wears around his neck or shoot himself?
His former trusted lieutenants like “Colonel” Karuna and arch rival and Minister, Doughlas Devananda say Prabakaran does not have the courage to face death and would escape or has already escaped from the battle scene.
The possibility that Prabakaran is no longer in the battle zone gained credence on the night of May 15 when the Navy identified the family members of LTTE’s Sea Tiger wing leader Soosai when they rescued a boat carrying 11 civilians.
The question being posed is whether Prabakaran would have allowed one of his senior leaders to send away his family members. As of now, all these possibilities are speculation and the air would clear in a matter of days, if not hours. – (The Hindu)
http://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=3259
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