KILINOCHCHI (Sri Lanka), April 10: The mastermind of Sri Lanka’s 19-year ethnic war on Wednesday pledged to pursue peace, but stopped short of removing the biggest obstacle to a settlement — his demand for a separate state for minority Tamils.

Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, speaking at his first news conference in more than a decade, also called for an Indian role in a Norwegian-sponsored peace plan, widely seen as the best chance to end a war that has killed about 64,000 people.

But the reclusive Prabhakaran deflected questions about his role in the 1991 assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, one of a string of suicide bombings his group has been blamed for.

“The conditions have not yet arisen to abandon the policy of statehood,” Prabhakaran told reporters in Kilinochchi, a dusty jungle town, referring to the long-running battle to create a Tamil homeland in the island’s north and east.

“We are sincerely and seriously committed to peace,” he said.

“But the struggle for political independence and statehood is a demand of the Tamil people,” Prabhakaran, 47 and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, said.

Hundreds of journalists went to the news conference held under tight security near Kilinochchi, 280 km north of Colombo.

The Tigers went to extreme lengths to protect their leader, with journalists subjected to body checks so thorough that reporters had to remove their socks for security officials to check between their toes.

If Prabhakaran had renounced his demand for a separate state called Eelam, he would have removed the main sticking point in peace talks between the rebels and the Sri Lankan government expected to begin in Thailand next month.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was swept to power in a December election promising an end to the conflict, has vowed to negotiate anything but Eelam.

Prabhakaran praised Wickremesinghe for his bold peace moves and said he would be willing to lay down arms if the conditions were right, but reiterated his demand for legal recognition in Sri Lanka before talks begin.

Prabhakaran also called for improved relations with India, saying the giant neighbour was crucial to the peace bid.

“We want to establish constructive and friendly relations with India,” said Prabhakaran, wanted by New Delhi for the murder of Gandhi who was blown up by a suicide bomber after he sent troops to crush the Tigers. “We want to forget about the past.”

“We see India as being crucial to the success of the peace process,” he said.

India’s main opposition Congress party said Prabhakaran was trying to legitimise his political status and it criticised the government for failing to get him extradited for Gandhi’s killing.—Reuters