09 January 2005	Sunday	27 Ziqa'ad 1425

COLOMBO, Jan 8: The LTTE on Saturday reacted sharply to local media reports that LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was among the missing following the tsunami catastrophe.

Referring to a news item broadcast by the government-owned Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) on Saturday morning that Mr Prabhakaran and the intelligence chief of the LTTE were among the dead, an LTTE press release said the party had "strongly protested against the mischievous act of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation".

The story, picked up by vernacular newspapers, has sparked speculations as to the whereabouts of the LTTE leader, whose exact place of residence in the LTTE-controlled Killinochchi is not known.

The Lankan military said it was "sure that he (Prabhakaran) is alive" and alleged that the LTTE had itself leaked the story about its supreme as part of a "psychological operation to divert the local media from other issues" concerning the Tamil group.

The local media have over the past week accusing the LTTE of indulging in an international fund collection campaign at a time when refugee camps in the areas under its control were being provided food by the government.