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Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Leader	Velupillai Prabhakaran
Dates of operation	1972 - present
Motives	The creation of a separate Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka
Active regions	Sri Lanka India
Ideology	Tamil nationalism
Status	Runs the unrecognized de facto state Tamil Eelam, banned as a terrorist organization by 32 countries

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, Tamil: தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள்), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers, is a militant Tamil nationalist organization that has waged a violent secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s in order to create a separate Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). The LTTE is currently proscribed as a terrorist organisation by 32 countries (see list). It is headed by its founder, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

History

v t e Sri Lankan civil war (1983–2009)
Origins	Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism Sinhala Only Act 1956 1958 Vaddukoddai Resolution 1977 1981 Burning of Jaffna Library Black July
Combatants	Sri Lanka Army (LRRP) Navy Air Force Police Special Task Force Home Guards Attacks on civilians Assassinations LTTE Divisions Air Tigers Sea Tigers Black Tigers Attacks in the 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Assassinations Suicide bombings Other militants (list) ENDLF ENLF EPRLF EROS PLOTE TELO  India Indian Peace Keeping Force Paramilitary groups EPDP TMVP
Phases	Eelam War I Indian intervention Eelam War II III IV Eastern / Northern theatres
Major battles	Kokkilai Vadamarachchi Poomalai Pawan Jaffna University Helidrop Balavegaya 1st Elephant Pass Pooneryn Riviresa 1st Mullaitivu Weli Oya Sath Jaya Vavunathivu Jayasikurui Thandikulam–Omanthai 1st Kilinochchi Oddusuddan A-9 highway 2nd Elephant Pass Bandaranaike Airport attack Point Pedro Jaffna Thoppigala Vidattaltivu 2nd Kilinochchi 2nd Mullaitivu Puthukkudiyirippu
Major events	Air Lanka Flight 512 Indo-Sri Lanka Accord Expulsions from Northern province Assassination of Lalith Athulathmudali Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi Assassination of Ranasinghe Premadasa Temple of the Tooth attack Lionair Flight 602 Bandaranaike Airport attack Expulsions from Colombo 2009 suicide air raid on Colombo
Leaders	Sri Lanka Military Army Tissa Weeratunga Nalin Seneviratne Hamilton Wanasinghe Cecil Waidyaratne G. H. De Silva Rohan Daluwatte Srilal Weerasooriya L. P. Balagalle Shantha Kottegoda Sarath Fonseka Navy Asoka de Silva H. A. Silva Clancy Fernando D. A. M. R. Samarasekara H. C. A. C. Thisera Daya Sandagiri Wasantha Karannagoda Air Force Dick Perera Andibuduge Fernando Makalandage Gunawardena Oliver Ranasinghe Jayalath Weerakkody Donald Perera Roshan Goonetileke Civilian J. R. Jayewardene Ranasinghe Premadasa Dingiri Banda Wijetunga Chandrika Kumaratunga Mahinda Rajapaksa LTTE Militant Velupillai Prabhakaran Pottu Amman Soosai Karuna Amman Political Selvarasa Pathmanathan Anton Balasingham S. P. Thamilselvan India Military Harkirat Singh Ashok K. Mehta Kulwant Singh Depinder Singh Dalvir Singh Krishnaswamy Sundarji Civilian R. Venkataraman Rajiv Gandhi V. P. Singh Jyotindra Nath Dixit J. Jayalalithaa M. Karunanidhi Vaiko
Aftermath	Genocide Films NPC resolution LLRC Reactions (Protests) Remembrance Day UN Panel on Accountability War crimes Chemical weapons
Related topics	Casualties Assassinations Massacres Child soldiers Disappearances Office on Missing Persons Human rights Popular culture Terrorism Non-state State PTA Sexual violence Sixth Amendment Thirteenth Amendment 1988 Maldives coup attempt 1987–1989 JVP insurrection
Sri Lankan civil war at Wiktionary    Source texts at Wikisource    Textbooks at Wikibooks   Images and media at the Commons    Quotations at Wikiquote    News stories at Wikinews

Rise to dominance

The LTTE was founded in 1975 by Velupillai Prabhakaran and attracted many supporters amongst disenchanted Tamil youth, who were dissatisfied with policies followed by successive governments towards solving various concerns of the nation's Tamil community. They carried out low-key attacks against various government targets, including policeman and local politicians. A notable attack carried out during the time was the assassination of the Mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duraiyappah. Initially the LTTE operated in cooperation with other Tamil militant groups which shared their same objectives, and in April 1984, the LTTE formally joined a common militant front, the Eelam National Liberation Front (ENLF), a union between itself, the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF).

In 1986, the the LTTE broke from the ENLF and launched an armed attack on members and training camps of TELO, which at the time was the largest Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. Over the next few months, virtually the entire TELO leadership and several hundred volunteers were hunted down, and the group ceased to be a potent force. A few months later, the LTTE attacked training camps of the EPRLF, forcing it to withdraw entirely from the Jaffna peninsula.

The LTTE then demanded that all remaining Tamil insurgents join the LTTE. Notices were issued to that effect in Jaffna and in Madras, India which Tamil groups used as their main headquarters. With the major groups including the TELO and EPRLF eliminated, the remaining Tamil insurgent groups, numbering around 20, were then absorbed into the LTTE. This made Jaffna an LTTE dominated city.

The reasons for the LTTE's internecine attacks on other Tamil groups are much debated. All of the Tamil militant groups, including the LTTE, had received varying degrees of support from India. However, while other groups such as the TELO wholeheartedly embraced Indian support, the LTTE remained wary of India, particularly after Rajiv Gandhi came to power, and tried to rein in the Tigers. The LTTE feared that India was seeking primarily to advance its own interests, which differed from the Sri Lankan Tamils interests, and could require the Tamils to accept an unfavorable federal settlement. Some commentators have suggested that the LTTE were also dissatisfied that most of the funding from expatriates went to the TELO, rather than to them. It has also been suggested that they believed the struggle would only be effective if the other groups, who were much more willing to compromise on a settlement to the conflict, were not operational. The effect of the attacks was that the LTTE consolidated the position as the main military group fighting for the cause of Tamil Eelam, with no credible rivals.

In 1987 the LTTE established the notorious Black Tigers, a unit of the LTTE responsible for conducting suicide attacks against political, economic and military targets, and launched its first suicide attack against a Sri Lanka Army camp, killing 40 soldiers.

The IPKF period

In 1987, when the Sri Lanka Army launched Operation Liberation, an assault to recapture Jaffna from the LTTE, the Indian press depicted the attack as being brutal and leading to disproportionately large civilian casualties. Faced with growing anger amongst its own Tamils, and a flood of refugees, India intervened directly in the conflict for the first time by initially airdropping food parcels into Jaffna. After subsequent negotiations, India and Sri Lanka entered into an agreement whereby Sri Lanka agreed to a federal structure, which would grant autonomy to the Tamils, and the Tamil militant groups would all lay down their arms. India was to send a peacekeeping force, named the IPKF to Sri Lanka to enforce the disarmament.

Although most Tamil militant groups accepted this agreement, the LTTE only did so very grudgingly and very soon rejected it on the grounds that the reforms were only illusory and because they were unwilling to support a referendum in the Eastern province, where Tamils were a minority. They also refused to hand over their weapons to the IPKF. As tensions grew, the LTTE declared a policy of "non-cooperation" with the IPKF on October 5th , and went on to kill an estimated 167 people over the next 24 hours. LTTE cadres killed 42 people in an ambush on a train near Batticaloa, shot dead over 40 Sinhalese civilians in their homes in the city, killed 29 in an ambush on a bus near Lahugala and murdered 35 fisherman in Eravur. By the end of the week, over 5000 Sinhalese civilians fled their homes and took refuge in Temples and army camps.

The result was that the LTTE now found itself engaged in military conflict with the Indian Army, and launched their first attack on an Indian army rations truck on October 8, killing five Indian para-commandos who were on board by strapping burning tires around their necks. The government of India then decided that the IPKF should disarm the LTTE by force, and the Indian Army launched number of assaults on the LTTE, including a month-long campaign dubbed Operation Pawan to win control of the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE. The ruthlessness of this campaign, and the Indian army's subsequent anti-LTTE operations made it extremely unpopular amongst many Tamils in Sri Lanka.

The post-IPKF LTTE

The Indian intervention was also unpopular amongst the Sinhalese majority, and the IPKF became bogged down in the fighting with the Tamil Tigers for over 2 years, experiencing heavy losses. The last members of the IPKF, which was estimated to have had a strength of well over 50,000 at its peak, left the country in 1990 upon request of the Sri Lankan government. A shaky peace initially held between the government and the LTTE, and peace talks progressed towards providing devolution for Tamils in the north and east of the country. However fearing defeat in the scheduled elections for the North Eastern Provincial Council, the LTTE pulled out of the talks, carrying out a series of attacks beginning on June 11, 1990, which left an estimated 450 people dead within the first week.

Fighting continued throughout the 1990s, and was marked by two key assassinations carried out by the LTTE, that of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993, using suicide bombers in both occasions. The fighting was briefly halted in 1994 following the election of Chandrika Kumaratunga as President of Sri Lanka and the onset of peace talks, but fighting resumed following the sinking two Sri Lanka Navy boats in April 1995 by the LTTE. In a series of military operations that followed, the Sri Lanka Army re-captured the Jaffna peninsula, the heartland of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Further offensives followed over the next three years, and the military captured vast areas in the north of the country from the LTTE, including area in the Vanni region, the town of Kilinochchi and many smaller towns. However, from 1998 onward the LTTE hit back, reversing these losses, culminating in the capture of the strategically important Elephant Pass base complex, which is located at the entrance of the Jaffna Peninsular, in April 2000, after prolonged fighting against the Sri Lanka Army. They were however unable to re-capture Jaffna from the Sri Lanka Army, as several offensives were beaten back.

The 2001 ceasefire

In 2001 following the September 11th attacks on the United States and the subsequent launch of the War on Terrorism, the LTTE unexpectedly dropped its demand for a separate state, which had never been accepted by the government or the island's Sinhalese majority. Instead, they stated that a form of regional autonomy would meet their demands. The Sri Lankan government had previously invited Norway to mediate in the dispute, yet until then, they were unsuccessful in halting the fighting between the sides.

Following the landslide election defeat of Kumaratunga and the coming to power of Ranil Wickramasinghe in December 2001, the two sides declared unilateral ceasefires, and signed an official Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) in March 2002. As part of the agreement, Norway and the other Nordic countries agreed to jointly monitor the ceasefire through the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. While the agreement largely held, the LTTE carried out numerous killings of members of rival Tamil groups, including over 100 members of the EPDP,hundreds of SL military intelligent members other civilians, drawing criticism from the government and international monitors.

Six rounds of peace talks were held regarding a solution to the conflict were held, but were suspended after the LTTE pulled out of the talks in 2003. There was also political uncertainly in south of the country, after President Kumaratunga suspended the government of the Prime Minister Wickremasinghe in 2004, accusing him of being too soft on the LTTE. Yet throughout all this, no significant military engagements took place.

In the 2005 Presidential Elections race, outgoing President Kumaratunga's successor Mahinda Rajapaksa campaigned on a platform of being tougher on the LTTE while Prime Minister Wickramasinghe vowed to restart the stalled peace talks. The LTTE ordered a boycott of the elections amongst Tamil voters in the East and North of Sri Lanka, and forcibly prevented votes from going to polling booths. Mahinda Rajapakse eventually won the election by a narrow majority, helped by the LTTE boycott, as most Tamils were expected to vote for Wickramasinghe. The LTTE action was condemned by the United States, who stated that it was an "interference in the democratic process (and) a significant portion of Sri Lanka's people were unable to express their views".

Resumption of hostilities

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2007)

Days after Rajapakse's election victory, a new round of violence erupted. Beginning in December 2005, the LTTE resumed attacks against government troops, carrying out a number of roadside bombings which killed around 150 government troops. In light of the violence, the co-chairs of the Tokyo Donor conference called on both parties to return to the negotiating table and arranged a new round of peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland on February 22 and February 23. The talks were reported to have gone "above expectations", with both the government and the LTTE agreeing to curb the violence and to hold further talks on April 19-21. The weeks following the talks saw a significant decrease in violence, but the LTTE resumed attacks in April, and as the violence escalated, the LTTE officially pulled out of peace talks indefinitely, in a move which was criticized by the international community. The LTTE also resumed attacks on civilian targets, massacring six rice farmers on April 23 and hacking a young mother to death and kidnapping her infant the next day.

In the first major incident since 2001, an LTTE Black Tiger suicide bomber attempted to assassinate the commander of the Sri Lanka Army, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka in April 2006. Lt. Gen. Fonseka and twenty-seven others were injured, while ten people were killed in the attack. For the first time since the 2001 ceasefire, the Sri Lanka Air Force carried out aerial assaults on rebel positions in the north-eastern part of the island nation in retaliation for the attack. These attacks proved the catalyst as the European Union decided to proscribe the LTTE as a terrorist organization on May 19, resulting in the freezing of LTTE assets in the member nations of the EU. In a statement, the European Parliament said that the LTTE did not represent all the Tamils and called on it to "allow for political pluralism and alternate democratic voices in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka". Further peace talks were scheduled in Oslo, Norway, between June 8-9 but canceled when the LTTE refused to meet directly with the government delegation claiming its fighters were not been allowed safe passage to travel to the talks. Norwegian mediator Erik Solheim told journalists that the LTTE should take direct responsibility for the collapse of the talks.

Organization and activities

Structure

The LTTE is organized into two main divisions namely, a military wing and a subordinate political wing. A central governing body oversees both of those divisions, which is headed by the LTTE supreme leader, Velupillai Prabakaran.

Military

In the LTTE, recruits are instructed to be prepared to die for the cause, and are issued with a cyanide capsule to be swallowed in the case of capture. The LTTE also has a special squad of suicide bombers, called the Black Tigers, which it deploys for critical missions.

The military wing contains following specific subdivisions, which are directly controlled and directed by the central governing body:

• Sea Tigers - an amphibious warfare unit focusing on utilization of naval firepower and logistics, mainly consisting lightweight boats.
• Air Tigers - an airborne group, consisting of several lightweight aircraft. It is known to be the world's first air force controlled by an organization proscribed as terrorists.
• Black Tigers - a suicide commando unit, responsible for large scale bomb attacks and the assassination of many political leaders.
• A intelligence unit which is operated internationally.
• A political office.

Administrative

Even though the LTTE was formed as a military group, it also carries out a number of civilian functions. The LTTE controls sections in the north of the island, especially the regions lying around the cities of Killinochchi and Mulathivu. However, it still uses the Sri Lanka rupee and many civil servants are paid by the Sri Lankan government, even in areas controlled by the LTTE. Most of the structures supporting these functions were developed during the period immediately after the IPKF's withdrawal, when the LTTE controlled Jaffna without significant opposition, due to the ceasefire agreement of the time. During this period, it transformed itself from a purely military body to a quasi-government, complete with administrative organs. Among these are:

• A broadcasting authority called the Voice of Tigers
• A judicial Service including a court service and a public prosecution system.
• A police force
• A banking system
• A "customs" agency

Although it no longer controls Jaffna, these structures continue to form the basis on which it runs the areas it does control. The LTTE's administrative agencies are integrated into the organization's overall chain of command. The LTTE's quasi-government is run on socialist principles. For example, all litigants before a civil court are required to pay a fine for failing to settle their dispute amicably. In recent years, the LTTE has sought wider recognition for its administrative organs. After the Boxing Day tsunami, it has sought to ensure that aid to the areas under its control is routed through its own administrative agencies. It tried to enter into an agreement, called the P-TOMS, with the government of Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga that would have given them credibility with foreign governments. The agreement was bitterly opposed by hardliners in the Sri Lankan government and some moderates, and it never saw implementation.

Political

The LTTE also has a political wing, but despite the ceasefire it has not tried to formally create a political party. Instead, in the 2004 parliamentary elections, it openly supported the Tamil National Alliance, which won over 90% of votes in the electoral district of Jaffna, in the Northern Province, although just 47% the total population cast their votes.

The LTTE's commitment to multi-party democracy has also been questioned. In an interview in 1986, Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the LTTE, said that a future state of Tamil Eelam would be a one-party state rather than a multi-party democracy, because that would help it develop faster. He has not repeated this proposal, and the LTTE's main ideologue, Anton Balasingham, publicly repudiated this position in 1992, stating that it was irrelevant after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Dissension

Mahattaya, a one time the deputy leader of the LTTE, was accused of treason by the LTTE and killed in 1994. He is said to have collaborated with the Indian Research and Analysis Wing to remove Prabhakaran from the LTTE leadership.

In the biggest show of dissent from within the organization, a senior LTTE commander named Colonel Karuna (nom de guerre of Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan) broke away from the LTTE in March 2004 and formed the TamilEela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal amid allegations that the northern commanders were overlooking the needs of the eastern Tamils. The LTTE leadership accused him of mishandling of funds and questioned him about his recent personal behavior. He tried to take control of the eastern province from the LTTE, which caused clashes between the LTTE and TEMVP. The LTTE has suggested that TEMVP is backed by the government, and the Nordic SLMM monitors have corroborated this.

After the election of president Mahinda Rajapakshe, the LTTE lost control of the Eastern province of the island. This victory to the Sri Lankan forces is some what attributed to the fact that Col. Karuna's dissension and his actions against the LTTE in the province. As of September 2007 Col. Karuna has said that he would disarm once the government of Sri Lanka is able to guarantee the security of his factions.

Status of women

The LTTE advocates equality for women, and has a large number of female recruits. Female members are believed to make up between 20 to 30 percent of the LTTE's fighting cadre. The Women's Wing of the LTTE is known as Suthanthirap Paravaikal (or "Freedom Birds"). The first woman combatant to die was 2nd Lt. Malathi, on October 10, 1987, in an encounter with the IPKF at Kopai in Jaffna peninsula. An estimated 4000 women cadres have been killed since then, including over a hundred in 'Black Tiger' suicide squads. The assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the attempt on President Chandrika Kumaranatunga and the 2006 attempt on the Sri Lanka Army commander are notable instances where female LTTE cadres launched suicide attacks.

Links to other designated terrorist organizations

Some international experts have suspected the existence of connections between the LTTE and other internationally designated terrorist organizations including al-Qaeda. These connections came under more detailed scrutiny as a result of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

When the Council for Foreign Relations was asked about links between the LTTE and al Qaeda, it responded with a resounding "No". It goes on to explain that "Experts say that the secular nationalist LTTE currently has no operational connection with al-Qaeda, its radical Islamist affiliates, or other terrorist groups" ]

Others security and counter-terrorism experts, such as the Council on Foreign Relations have rejected claims of links as propaganda. al Qaeda is well known to have a deep loathing of secular politics of the sort pursued by the LTTE, and the LTTE is formally a secular organization with no interest is helping establish Islamic regimes elsewhere. If anything, the LTTE is more associated with Hinduism (Tamils being Hindus) than any other religion ]

Some of the incidents cited to prove these suspicions include

• The similarities between previous LTTE attacks against Sri Lanka Navy ships and the al-Qaeda attack on the USS Cole which killed 17 US Navy sailors.
• Evidence that the LTTE provided forged passports to Ramzi Yousef, the man who carried out the first attack against the World Trade Center in New York in 1993.
• Increasing intelligence reports that the LTTE was smuggling arms to various terrorist organizations, including to Islamics in Pakistan to their counterparts in the Philippines, using their covert smuggling networks, and findings by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies that they were building commercial links with al-Qaeda and other militants in Afghanistan.
• Allegations that the LTTE stole Norwegian passports and sold them to the al-Qaeda organization to earn money to fund their arms purchases.

However, most of these allegations have been made by Sri Lankan government officials and their sympathizers (especially post 9/11), and are therefore subject to some skepticism.

Other security experts including Glen Jenvey, a specialist on international terrorism and - problematically in this instance, a former employee of the government of Sri Lanka, have also claimed that al-Qaeda has copied most of its terror tactics from the LTTE. He highlighted the LTTE as the mastermind that sets the pattern for organizations like al-Qaeda to pursue - but has established no causal link, no interaction between groups, just coincidences. Some of the comparisons he used to draw his conclusions are:

• The LTTE invented the modern suicide bomber and deployed it against political, military, and civilian targets. Islamic groups copied the LTTE by carrying out similar suicide attacks. But LTTE have no affiliation to any religious groups.
• The LTTE continuously attacks shipping off the coast of Sri Lanka by blowing ships up or by acts of piracy. Attacks on the USS Cole off Yemen and piracy off the coast of Somalia, a stronghold for al-Qaeda followers, followed and possibly copied the LTTE tactics.
• The LTTE attack on the World Trade Centre in Sri Lanka was followed by attacks by al-Qaeda on the World Trade Center in New York.
• The LTTE's use of a women's section has being copied by al-Qaeda and Chechen terrorists, for example the "Black Widows" who played a role in the Moscow theater hostage crisis and have carried out suicide bombings.
• Attacks on civilians in buses and trains in Sri Lanka are similar to the al-Qaeda attacks on public civilian transport during the July 2005 bombings in London.

Human rights and terrorism issues

The LTTE is labeled as a terrorist organization as part of a broader allegation that it does not have respect for human rights and that it does not adhere to the standards of conduct expected of a resistance movement or what might be called "freedom fighters". The accusation of terrorism is based in part on claims that the LTTE kills innocent civilians, recruits child soldiers, has been responsible for assassination of political figures and non-military officials, and extensively uses suicide bombers.

Attacks on civilians

The LTTE has attacked non-military targets including commuter trains and buses, farming villages, temples and mosques resulting in large numbers of civilian deaths.

Some of the major attacks resulting in dozens of civilian deaths include the Kebithigollewa massacre, the Gonagala massacre (54 dead), the Anuradhapura massacre (146 dead), the Dehiwala train bombing (56 dead), the Palliyagodella massacre (166 dead) and the bombing of Sri Lanka's Central Bank (102 dead). The LTTE claims that its attacks on purely civilian targets are collateral damage.

Even after the signing of the Ceasefire agreement in 2002, the LTTE has continued to carry out attacks against civilians. They murdered 6 Sinhalese farmers on April 23, 2006 and killed a further 13 laborers on May 30. In one of the deadliest attacks against civilians, a claymore antipersonnel mine attack by the LTTE on June 15, 2006 on a bus carrying 140 civilians killed 68 people including 15 children, and injured 60 others.

On August 14, 2006, a convoy carrying the Pakistani High Commissioner Bashir Wali Mohamed, was attacked by Claymore type directional mine concealed within a rickshaw, killing seven people and injuring seventeen. The high commissioner escaped unharmed. The Sri Lankan Government blamed the LTTE.. However, the High Commissioner Bashir Wali Mohamed himself claimed that this was the work of the Research and Analysis Wing of India.

Assassinations

The LTTE has long been accused of carrying assassinations of political rivals and opponents. These include:

• Alfred Duraiyappah, mayor of Jaffna in the attack that brought them to prominence in 1975
• Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India in 1991
• Ranjan Wijeratne, Sri Lankan cabinet minister and former general
• Lalith Athulathmudali, Sri Lankan cabinet minister
• Ranasinghe Premadasa, President of Sri Lanka
• Gamini Dissanayake, Sri Lankan presidential candidate
• Major Gen. Parami Kulatunga, third-highest ranking officer in the Sri Lankan Army
• Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan foreign minister, lawyer and international humanitarian.

Indian courts have issued international warrants to arrest both Velupillai Prabhakaran and its intelligence chief Pottu Amman in connection with the killing of Rajiv Gandhi. The LTTE at first denied any involvement, but later issued a statement in June 2006 acknowledging it and calling the event a "monumental tragedy."

The LTTE has also been accused of killing moderate Tamils and other Tamils with whom it disagrees, such as:

• Appapillai Amirthalingam, leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF)
• Vettivelu Yogeswaran, TULF politician
• Sarojini Yogeswaran, mayor of Jaffna
• Pon Sivapalan, mayor of Jaffna
• Neelan Thiruchelvam, academic and TULF politician
• Kethesh Loganathan, political activist and second chief of Sri Lanka Peace Secretariat
• Selliah Parameswaran Kurukkal a Hindu priest that blessed Mahinda Rajapakse

The LTTE has vehemently denied involvement in several of these incidents. Others argue these are tit-for-tat killings conducted by partisans of both sides of the conflict. The LTTE argues the Sri Lankan government and government-aided Tamil paramilitaries have also targeted high-profile supporters of the LTTE.

LTTE supporters justify some of the targeted assassinations by arguing that the people attacked were combatants or persons closely associated with Sri Lankan military intelligence. Specifically in relation to the TELO, the LTTE has said that it had to perform preemptive self-defence because the TELO was in effect functioning as a proxy for India. They also draw comparisons between the casualties caused by the LTTE's actions and the actions of European resistance forces against Nazi occupation during the Second World War. However, the LTTE's alleged victims have included unarmed Tamil politicians and civilian moderates who sought a peaceful solution to the Sri Lankan crisis.

Child soldiers

The LTTE's use of children as front-line troops was proved when 25 front-line troops between the ages of 13 and 17 surrendered en masse to the Sri Lankan Forces. Amid international pressure, LTTE announced in July 2003 that it would stop conscripting child soldiers, but both UNICEF and Human Rights Watch have accused it of reneging on its promises, and of conscripting Tamil children orphaned by the tsunami. Civilians have also complained that the LTTE is continuing to abduct children, including some in their early teens, for use as soldiers. Moreover UNICEF states that the LTTE has recruited 315 child soldiers between April and December 2006. According to UNICEF, the total number of child soldiers recruited by the LTTE since 2001 stands at 5,794.

The LTTE argues that instances of child recruitment occurred mostly in the east, under the purview of former LTTE regional commander Colonel Karuna. After leaving the LTTE and forming the TMVP, it is alleged Karuna continues to forcibly kidnap and induct child soldiers. Its official position is that earlier, some of its cadres erroneously recruited volunteers in their late teens. It says that its official policy is now that it will not accept child soldiers. It also says that some underage youth lie about their age and are therefore allowed to join, but are sent back home to their parents as soon as they are discovered to be underage.

In 2007 The LTTE pleaded that it will release all of the recruits under the age of 18 before the end of the year. Furthermore, on 18 June 2007, the LTTE released 135 children under the age of 18. UNICEF claims that only 506 child recruits remain under the LTTE. UNICEF further notes that there has been a significant drop in LTTE recruitment of children

Suicide bombing

The LTTE has frequently used suicide bombers as a tactic. They pioneered the use of concealed suicide bomb vests, which are now used by many other organizations worldwide. The tactic of deploying suicide bombers was used to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed in 1991 using a prototype suicide vest, and Ranasinghe Premadasa, assassinated in 1993.

According to Jane's Information Group, between 1980 and 2000 LTTE had carried out a total of 168 suicide attacks on civilians and military targets. The number of suicide attacks easily exceeded the combined total of Hezbollah and Hamas suicide attacks carried out during the same period.

Ethnic cleansing

The LTTE has been blamed for forcibly removing (or "ethnically cleansing") Sinhalese and Muslim inhabitants from areas under its control, including the use of violence against those who refuse to leave. Most notably, the LTTE forcibly expelled the entire Muslim population of Jaffna with two hours notice in 1990. The LTTE are also accused of organising massacres of Sinhala villagers who settled in the Northeast under the dry lands policy.

The LTTE has apologized for the expulsion of Muslims and has blamed this event on the misconduct of one of its regional commanders. However these expulsions had taken place in Jaffna where the supreme leadership of the LTTE was based. It is therefore unlikely that these expulsions were planned at a local level. Furthermore no punitive action was taken against those who expelled the Muslims from Jaffna. The LTTE has taken the added step of encouraging Muslim civilians to return their homes and livelihoods and providing compensation. However very few Muslims have accepted this offer.

However, Muslims and Sinhalese have formed over half of the population of the East province throughout recent history. Furthermore, the existence of archaeological evidence shows that the Sinhalese have inhabited both the Eastern Province and the Northern Province for over two thousand years. In fact, most of the place names in the north and east of Sri Lanka are of Sinhalese origin. Scholars acknowledge the existence of a Tamil kingdom in Jaffna for about 300 years from around 1200-1500 CE, but there is no evidence of a Tamil kingdom in the Eastern province.

Execution of POWs

The LTTE have executed prisoners of war in spite of a declaration by the LTTE in 1988 that it would abide by the Geneva Conventions. Notably, the LTTE massacred most of the 400 to 600 police officers captured after their surrender to the LTTE in 1990. The LTTE also executed 200 Sri Lankan soldiers captured during an attack on the Pooneryn army camp, and hundreds of soldiers who had surrendered during the attack on the Mullaitivu army camp.

Allegation of Extortion

Some people alleged that a group claiming to be "fund raisers for the LTTE" forced the Tamil expatriates to give them money. The group threatening the safety of their relatives or property in areas of Sri Lanka. This involves pressuring the people to directly give the group money, or to indirectly fund its activities by patronizing businesses connected with it (La 2004). Although intelligence services have raised concerns about such activities, which are particularly controversial in Canada, few formal complaints have been made. During raids by the RCMP, the World Tamil Movement (alleged of funding the LTTE) was found coordinating a number of illegal activities in order to control the Tamil diaspora in Canada. A report by Human Rights Watch outlines the intimidation and extortion Tamil expatriates experience from the LTTE.

Proscription as a terrorist group

At least 32 countries have listed the LTTE as a terrorist organisation. As of May 2007, these include:

• India (since 1992)
• The United States of America (since 1997)
• Malaysia
• The United Kingdom (since 2000)
• The European Union (since 2006; representing 27 countries)
• Canada (since 2006)

The UN has also passed Resolution 1373, asking member countries to identify and limit activities of any organization that carries out terrorist activities. The UN has not published its own list of terrorist groups, and has left their identification to the discretion of member countries. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan also suggested that the LTTE should face travel curbs and other penalties if they keep using children as soldiers. In a 2006 report to the Security Council, Annan also recommended other sanctions such as arms embargoes and financial restrictions against the LTTE. Australia and other countries have listed the LTTE as a terrorist group in accordance with Resolution 1373. Canada does not grant residency to LTTE members on the grounds that they have participated in crimes against humanity.

The first country to ban the LTTE was its early ally, India. The Indian change of policy came gradually, starting with the IPKF-LTTE conflict, and culminating with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Sri Lanka itself lifted the ban on the LTTE before signing the ceasefire agreement in 2002. This was a prerequisite set by the LTTE for signing of the agreement.

Criminal activities

One factor that has benefited the LTTE greatly has been its sophisticated international support network. While some of the funding obtained by the LTTE is from legitimate fund raising and extortion among the Tamil diaspora, a significant portion is obtained through criminal activities, involving sea piracy, human smuggling, drug trafficking and gunrunning.

Sea piracy

The LTTE are reported to hijack ships and boats of all sizes, and it is common practice for them to kidnap and kill the crew members on board the hijacked vessels.

The LTTE has been accused of hijacking several vessels in waters outside Sri Lanka including the Irish Mona (in August 1995), Princess Wave (in August 1996), Athena (in May 1997), Misen (in July 1997), Morong Bong (in July 1997), MV Cordiality (in Sept 1997) and Princess Kash (in August 1998). When the LTTE captured the MV Cordiality near the port of Trincomalee, they killed all five Chinese crew members on board. The MV Sik Yang, a 2,818-ton Malaysian-flag cargo ship which sailed from Tuticorin, India on May 25, 1999 was reported missing in waters near Sri Lanka. The ship with a cargo of bagged salt was due at the Malaysian port of Malacca on May 31. The fate of the ship's crew of 15 is unknown. It is suspected that the vessel was hijacked by the LTTE and is now been used as a phantom vessel. A report published on June 30, 1999 confirmed that the vessel had been hijacked by the LTTE.

MV Farah III incident

In a notable incident since the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement in 2001, the crew of a Jordanian ship, MV Farah III that ran aground near rebel-controlled territory off the island's coast, accused the Tamil Tigers of forcing them to abandon the vessel which was carrying 14,000 tonnes of Indian rice and risking their lives. The crew said that LTTE fired four times to force them out of the vessel after failing to explode it in choppy seas three days after. The skipper of the vessel said;

"First they tried to set up a bomb and explode the anchor cable and when it failed they ordered us to weigh anchor"

He also said that the Tigers dismantled and removed all radio communication equipment and radar from the vessel. On May 1, 2007 Sayed Sulaiman, the chairman of the ship's owners, Salam International Trading Company gave an interview to the BBC Tamil service, saying,

"We hear from the parties who are concerned with the ship, the insurance company etc., that ... everything that could be taken – like the rice, lights, generators – has been taken from the ship. The ship is now bare."

Pilferage of tsunami donations

In May 2007, two Tamils were arrested in Australia. They were charged for raising thousands of dollars in Australia under the pretense of being for charities and aid for those affected by the 2004 Asian Tsunami, which killed 35,000 people in Sri Lanka, but instead using the money to fund the LTTE. Australian Federal Police conducted raids across Melbourne and Sydney and charged the two men with "being members of a terrorist group, financing terrorism and providing material support for terrorism". The Australian Federal Police alleged that the men have provided significant funds as well as electronic and marine equipment to the Tamil Tigers since July 2002. Commenting on the possibility of the LTTE engaging in other similar incidents, Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said "We are concerned that that sort of thing is taking place in Australia, that Australian citizens are being duped into making contributions to what they believe to be honest fundraising activities in terms of relief for people in distress.".

Human smuggling

The Mackenzie Institute alleged that most of the smuggling of Tamil people to Western countries is done under the permission of the LTTE. However, there is no proof that LTTE benefit from this. It further alleged that the people who are leaving Sri Lanka from Tamil Tigers controlled areas pay a few hundred dollars as a forced contribution to the LTTE. In addition to this, people with special skills or a greater wealth than ordinary Tamils may have to pay thousands of dollars to be entitled to leave.

Arms smuggling

Another one of LTTE's most secretive International operations is the smuggling of weapons, explosives, and "dual use" technologies to keep up with the military operations. The part of the LTTE responsible for these activities is given the nickname "KP Branch", taking the initials of its highest level operative, Kumaran Padmanathan (KP). The workers for the KP Branch are outsiders from the fighting wing of the LTTE, since the identities of the those fighters are recorded and available to law enforcement and counter-intelligence agencies by India's RAW, who had helped train many Tiger cadres in the early 1980s. The KP Branch operates extremely secretively by having the minimum connection possible with the LTTE's other sections for further security. It finally hands over the arms shipments to a highly trusted team of the sea Tigers to deliver them to the LTTE dominated areas.

In order to carryout the activities of International arms trafficking, the LTTE operates it own fleet of ocean-going vessels. These vessels only operate a certain period of time for the LTTE and in the remaining time they transport legitimate goods and raise hard cash for the purchase of weapons. The LTTE initially operated a shipping base in Myanmar, but they were forced to leave due to diplomatic pressure. To overcome the loss of this, a new base has been set up on Phuket Island, in Thailand.

However, the most expertly carried out operation of the KP Branch was the theft of 32,400 rounds of 81mm mortar ammunition purchased from Tanzania for the Sri Lanka Army. Being aware of the purchase of 35,000 mortar bombs, the LTTE made a bid to the manufacturer through a numbered company and arranged a vessel of their own to pick up the load. Once the bombs were loaded into the ship, the LTTE changed the name and registration of their ship. The vessel was taken to Tiger-held territory in Sri Lanka's north instead of transporting it to its intended destination.

Western countries are the main territory for fund raising activities of the LTTE. The money raised from donations and criminal enterprises are transferred into bank accounts of the Tigers and from there to the accounts of a weapons broker, or the money is taken by KP operatives themselves. LTTE's need for resources is mostly fulfilled by the Tamils who reside outside Sri Lanka. In 1995, when the LTTE lost Jaffna, their international operatives were ordered to increase, by a massive 50%, the amount raised from Tamils outside of the island.

Other crimes

LTTE has also been accused of committing credit card fraud in a number of countries including India and the United Kingdom. In April 2007, the Sri Lankan High Commission in London also accused the LTTE of being behind a credit card scam, however a police spokesman said there was no definite link to the LTTE or Sri Lankan gangs. Williams , a writer at US Institute of Peace Press, alleged the LTTE of crimes such as organized crime, social security fraud, counterfeit currency trading, and satellite piracy.

In 2007 the New York Police Department arrested a number of LTTE operatives who were planning to use stolen credit card information to steal $250,000 in New York City, and tens of millions more from ATMs worldwide. Overall, Jane's Intelligence Review reported that the LTTE raise up to $300 million a year through various methods, including international credit card fraud and extortion of Tamil expatriates.

See also

• Terrorist attacks attributed to the LTTE
• Notable attacks attributed to the LTTE
• Assassinations attributed to LTTE
• Black July
• Kumaran Pathmanadan
• Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups
• Military use of children in Sri Lanka

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Further reading

• Balasingham, Adele. (2003) The Will to Freedom - An Inside View of Tamil Resistance, Fairmax Publishing Ltd, 2nd ed. ISBN 1-903679-03-6
• Balasingham, Anton. (2004) War and Peace - Armed Struggle and Peace Efforts of Liberation Tigers, Fairmax Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-903679-05-2
• de Votta, Neil. (2004) Blowback: Linguistic Nationalism, Institutional Decay, and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka. Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-8047-4924-8
• Gamage, Siri and I.B. Watson (Editors). (1999) Conflict and Community in Contemporary Sri Lanka - 'Pearl of the East' or 'Island of Tears'?, Sage Publications Ltd, ISBN 0-7619-9393-2
• Hansard Australia (2006), Senate Transcript for 16 June 2006
• Hellmann-Rajanayagam, D. (1994) "The Groups and the rise of Militant Secessions". in Manogaram, C. and Pfaffenberger, B. (editors). The Sri Lankan Tamils. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-8133-8845-7
• Human Rights Watch (2003) Child Soldier Use 2003: A Briefing for the 4th UN Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict
• La, J.. 2004. "Forced remittances in Canada's Tamil enclaves". Peace Review 16:3. September 2004. pp. 379-385.
• Narayan Swamy, M. R. (2002) Tigers of Lanka: from Boys to Guerrillas, Konark Publishers; 3rd ed. ISBN 81-220-0631-0
• Pratap, Anita. (2001) Island of Blood: Frontline Reports From Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Other South Asian Flashpoints. Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-200366-2
• Sri Kantha, Sachi.(2005) Pirabhakaran Phenomenon, Lively COMET Imprint, ISBN 1-57087-671-1
• Wilson, Jeyaratnam (1999) Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism: Its Origins and Development in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, University of British Columbia Press, ISBN 0-7748-0760-1

LTTE atrocities

• Sri Lanka's Muslim Question
• LTTE's Muttur Massacre on 3 August 2006

External links

Official LTTE websites and LTTE related websites

• Tamil Eelam
• LTTE Peace Secretariat

Sri Lanka Government websites

• Sri Lankan Defence Ministry
• Media Center for National Security
• Sri Lanka Peace Secretariat

Norwegian Mediators

• Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission

• Articles to be expanded from May 2007
• Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
• Sri Lankan Tamil politics
• Secessionist organizations
• U.S. State Department designated terrorist organizations
• 1976 establishments