International

Colombo awaits Prabakaran's media outing

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO APRIL 8. The first media outing of Velupillai Prabakaran in more than a decade is being keenly awaited for what the reclusive leader of the LTTE might announce, and if it would provide a breakthrough in Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict.

Mr. Prabakaran is to hold a news conference, his first since April 1990, this Wednesday in the northern battle-scarred town of Killinochchi, about 300 km from here. In the next 48 hours, at least 150 journalists from all over the world are expected to travel to the town to hear out the man considered the brain behind countless terrorist acts, but who is regarded and worshipped as a de facto god by many Tamils in Sri Lanka.

The event comes in the backdrop of a peace process that has gathered momentum in the last three months. The Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE declared a ceasefire last month, and the two sides are scheduled to hold preliminary talks in Thailand in May but questions remain about the sincerity of the Tigers in the Norwegian-facilitated initiative.

``It is clearly part of a diplomatic offensive by the LTTE in order to project the group as a political force to the international community,'' said Ketheesh Loganathan of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA). Others too perceived the press conference as part of Mr. Prabakaran's search for a new image in the post-September world. ``It is an exercise to show the world that he is the leader not of a terrorist group, but a political party,'' said Mangala Samaraweera, who was a Minister in the People's Alliance Government of the President, Chandrika Kumaratunga.

The PA took a hard line on the LTTE, tried unsuccessfully to open talks with it and was defeated in the December 2001 elections. Mr. Samaraweera said the opposition PA would expect the LTTE leader to announce that he is ready to begin discussions on substantive issues for a political resolution of the conflict within the framework of a united Sri Lanka.

``The ceasefire cannot continue indefinitely. What we want to see is the two sides at the conference table as soon as possible, discussing a political solution, not just an interim administration. We would like to see some indication that Mr. Prabakaran is genuine about entering the democratic process,'' said Mr. Samaraweera. Though no one is prepared to guess what the LTTE leader might say on Wednesday, the expectation is that it would be somewhat different from the group's usual position on Sri Lanka's Tamil question. ``If the LTTE were to roll out a major policy statement that spells out a change in its position on the issue of a separate State, for instance, that would be significant,'' said Harim Peiris, the spokesman of Ms. Kumaratunga.

However, the leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), one of the few remaining Tamil parties that has maintained a fiercely anti-LTTE line, said he would not pitch his expectations too high. ``The LTTE is not serious about peace. Talks will go on without leading anywhere,'' he said. An organisation representing the Muslims of Jaffna said it would like to see journalists ask the LTTE to spell out its position vis-a-vis the second largest minority community in Sri Lanka.

The LTTE expelled Muslims from Jaffna in 1990 in an act of ethnic cleansing. The president of the Northern Muslims Rights Organisation, B. A. S. Sufyan, said he wanted a clear statement from the LTTE that the Muslims, who are languishing as refugees in camps around Sri Lanka, can return to their homes and live in peace.

Mr. Loganathan said the LTTE was taking ``a massive political risk'' by presenting Mr. Prabakaran to the media after all these years, as there were bound to be embarrassing questions about the group's conduct since1990.``But it is a positive sign that they are willing to take up this challenge,'' he said.

Whatever emerges from the press conference on Wednesday, Sri Lanka has not known a media event of this scale before. The LTTE has already asked journalists to gather at their checkpoint in Vavuniya by 5 pm on Tuesday, a day ahead of schedule. Security measures will be tight and journalists are likely to be physically screened several times.

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