International   

LTTE leader shot dead

V. S. Sambandan

COLOMBO: The LTTE's deputy commander for the eastern Batticaloa district, Ramanan, was shot dead by an unidentified sniper on Sunday. Supporters of the former LTTE special commander V. Muralitharan ("Col." Karuna) have claimed responsibility for the killing. The LTTE in a statement said it considered the killing as one "intended to end all efforts towards peace and drag the LTTE into a major war." According to the LTTE, Ramanan was "examining the Forward Defence Lines (FDLs) at Vavunathivu [in eastern Sri Lanka] when he was hit by a sniper." Ramanan was among the eastern leaders appointed after "Col" Karuna's rebellion in March 2004 and was those who led the LTTE's Good Friday offensive in April 2004 against the supporters of the former special commander. In another development, the U.N. and the U.S. have condemned the "continuing despicable attacks" on NGOs in Sri Lanka's north and east. The latest condemnation came after reports of grenade attacks on three NGOs working in the Trincomalee district on Sunday and the recent killing of an employee of the Norwegian Refugee Council in Vavuniya district. "These attacks must be investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice," the office of the U.N. resident co-ordinator said in a statement. The U.S. embassy in Colombo condemned the attacks.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Majority votes for independence in Montenegro referendum
LTTE leader shot dead
Abbas halts slide into civil war
Probe sought into U.K. scandal
Iraq: U.S. for talks with Iran
Nepal Cabinet expanded
A genius with shaky maths
From Marx to make-believe
WHO Director General dead
60 Taliban fighters killed

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu