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August 13, 2005

Did The Tamil Tigers Do It?

While the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) may have assassinated Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar on August 13, 2005, as some in the Sri Lankan Government contend, a preliminary review suggests that the method of assassination does not fit the Tigers' modus operandi. They like to bomb, up close and personal. Their assassinations are usually carried out by the Black Tiger special operations unit.

The Tigers political leader, S.P. Tamilchelvan, denied that they assassinated Mr. Kadirgamar, who was reportedly shot in the head and chest. This hit looks like the work of a hired assassin. Question is: Did the LTTE hire the hitter or hitters? If not, who did?

Another question: Are there elements in the Sri Lankan military, as Mr. Tamilchelvan contends, "operating with a hidden agenda to sabotage the cease-fire agreement" between LTTE and the government?

Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, reported August 13, 2005 that the Sri Lankan government on August 13, 2005 "flatly rejected a Tamil Tiger denial of its hand in the assassination" of Mr. Kadirgamar.

The agency quoted Sri Lankan Health Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva, "who is also the government spokesman," as telling reporters."Government finds it difficult to accept the denial."

As referenced above, LTTE is currently engaged in a tenuous cease-fire with the Sri Lankan government. It is seeking "an independent state" in areas in Sri Lanka inhabited by ethnic Tamils. Mr. Kadirgamar worked diligently to deny them political legitimacy and to have them declared terrorists. Some nations view LTTE as a terrorist organization.

A partial list of assassinations compiled by the Council on Foreign Relations has a few of the prominent politicians who've been the target of Tamil bombs. It gives credence to the use of bombs, not bullets, as a major assassination tool. For example:

Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi , son of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers on May 21, 1991, at a campaign rally in India. His assassin was Thenmuli Rajaratnam See the Jain Commission report for more on this assassination;

On May 1, 1993, Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in a suicide bombing;

On July 29, 1999, Neelan Thiruchelvam, an ethnic Tamil, and a Sri Lankan member of parliament, was assassinated by a suicide bomber in Colombo, Sri Lanka;

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by The Tigers in Colombo, in December 1999. A suicide bomber blew herself up a few feet from the prime minister; and

On June 7, 2000, a suicide bomber assassinated Sri Lanka's Minister for Industrial Development, C.V. Goonaratne, in the northern suburbs of Colombo. See "Ministers wife succumbs to injuries;120 detained; emergency extended.

Here's is an Institute for Conflict Management's list of assassinations reportedly carried out by LTTE. Also see "Prominent Tamil political leaders assassinated by LTTE since the Ceasefire Agreement." This list of "Suicide Attacks by the LTTE" is also interesting.

Meanwhile, Priyath Liyanage, editor, BBC's Sinhala service, said the assassination of Mr. Kadirgamar "comes at a time when the peace process in Sri Lanka is in deep crisis."

Many of the recent killings in the eastern and northern areas of the country have put a heavy strain on the stalled peace process," he wrote August 13, 2005

Posted by Munir Umrani at August 13, 2005 10:36 AM

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