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COLOMBO: For Tamil Tiger rebels, the best dinner date is with their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. After a final supper with the supremo, the guerillas blow themselves to pieces in dramatic suicide bombings. The deadliest weapon in the armoury of Prabhakaran’s Liberation Tigers Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is the elite band of suicide bombers who have added high profile targets such as former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi since 1987.
Prabhakaran, 47 is is seen as a potent force that could alter the outcome of the vote. Suicide bombings by his Black Tiger unit have caused havoc at previous election campaigns. A suicide bomber staged an unsuccessful attack in the run up to Wednesday’s vote and claimed the lives of seven people. At least one opposition candidate was gunned down by suspected Tiger rebels last month in the island’s east.
For the first time since his movement was born in 1972, Prabhakaran said last week that his struggle was not aimed at separation and that he was prepared to settle for political autonomy. The ruling people’s Alliance has rejected his statement as ”hollow” with Urban Development Minister Mangala Samaraweera describing him as a “cheap, third grade terrorist.”
Prabhakaran, a shy school dropout, has built one of the world’s most efficient guerilla organizations. Tiger fighters pledge their loyalty to him with a commitment to die. The suicide bombers’ dinner date with him is the most cherished for some 217 who have carried out attacks since the first bombing in July 1987.
Prabhakaran’s former associates say he is a self-taught guerilla who is highly conscious of his security. Like all LTTE guerillas, he always carries a cyanide capsule to bite to avoid capture. He is held in awe by a huge mass of Tamils and referred to as the “leader” within Tiger ranks. His critics say he is a fascist and megalomaniac. LTTE cadres take an oath of loyalty to Prabhakaran when they join, and are forbidden from smoking or drinking liquor.
In 1987, when India sent her troops to the embattled northeast to disarm Tamil groups, Prabhakaran took on the might of the Indians with a guerilla war which bruised New Delhi’s army. He opened peace talks with Colombo in 1989, but resumed the war again in June 1990 and is locked in combat with government forces.—AFP
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