Tag: ltte (last 300)
Liberation Tamil Mobsters of Eelam
(Slate) Sri Lankan Tamil: LTTE shook him down for protection $, like mafia. ‘It was a big business. If there’s peace, there’s no money to be made.’ (via @priyamaine)
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(Guardian) U.S. wants to question Sri Lanka Gen. Sarath Fonseka, visiting daughters in Oklahoma, about war crimes during final LTTE push. Could question Def Sec Gotabaya Rajapaksa, also a US citizen.
LTTE victims sue Rajaratnam
(WSJ) 30 LTTE attack survivors sued Raj Rajaratnam in NJ, accusing him of funding the Tigers’ ‘crimes against humanity.’
Rajaratnam invested heavily in Sri Lanka
(FT) Sri Lankan gov’t says Rajaratnam funded LTTE, investors panic becaues he holds minority stakes in many Sri Lankan cmopanies.
Rajaratnam wanted to meet Tamil Tiger chief
(NYT) Complaint vs. a different LTTE fundraiser in U.S. says Rajaratnam had a ‘long lasting desire to meet’ Tiger leader Prabhakaran.
Sri Lankan executions filmed
(AFP) UK broadcast footage of a Sri Lankan soldier shooting two naked, bound and blindfolded men in the back of the head, supposedly LTTE executions filmed on a soldier’s mobile.
New LTTE head arrested
(Dbsjeyaraj) KP was arrested in Malaysia (maybe).
Jeyaraj has the best account of what went down. Thailand seems intent on disavowing involvement. India/Interpol/Internal LTTE opposition might have all played roles. Details are obviously sparse.
Maoists threaten to kill Indian leaders
(WaPo) Maoists threaten to kill Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi. They extort millions from biz and used to get help from the LTTE.
Ghost Tigers
(WaPo) Tamil Tiger vowed to form a gov’t in exile. An Indian analyst thinks it’s about getting the money back from LTTE accounts all over the world.
Putting the past behind in Sri Lanka
(WSJ) A former Tamil Tiger who conducted a bombing and gun attack now wants to be a plumber. His parents told him not to come home for fear of revenge attacks. (ht: Shaheen)
LTTE hijacked European satellite
(WSJ) LTTE backers in the diaspora hacked a European satellite to send broadcasts and tried to bribe State Dep’t officials into removing the Tigers from a list of terrorist orgs.
Four more LTTE supporters plead guilty
Photos show Tamil civilians bombed
(WaPo) High-res imagery puts the lie to the Sri Lankan gov’t’s claim that it adhered to a no fire zone and didn’t shell civilians. The U.S. may file criminal charges vs. the def sec and army chief, who both have U.S. citizenship or a green card.
Hit by both sides
DNA confirms Prabhakaran’s death
UN: 20K Tamil civvies killed
(ToL) UN doc: 20,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final throes of the Sri Lankan war, mostly by gov’t shelling.
Maya Twitterspasm
Pioneers of the belly bomb
(WaPo) LTTE rebuffed AQ on bomb tech sharing: ‘We don’t go after kids in Pizza Hut.’ A bomber faked a pregnancy in an elaborate mil hospital plot. Other women trained on how to walk, act as if pregnant while carrying a bomb.
LTTE overplayed its hand
(Slate) Hitchens: China and Pakistan would never allow Sri Lanka to be partitioned in favor of a minority with strong links to India.
Prabhakaran death confirmed
(NYT) LTTE confirmed Prabhakaran’s death. The body was cremated and ashes scattered at sea to prevent a grave from becoming a pilgrimage site.
Escaping the LTTE
(Guardian) Nearing the shore of the lagoon, they started to crawl on their bellies across the sand. She could not swim; she had never learned, and the water was up to her neck.
Inside prison Sri Lanka
(NYT) Tamil Sri Lankans are visited at home by police every 2 weeks and told who’s allowed to live there, in a disturbing effort to root out LTTE.
Up to 250K to be held for 2 yrs in Sri Lankan camps
Identifying a Tiger
Funding the Tigers from France
Tamil refugees’ stories emerge
(Guardian) Tamils in Lanka: White phosphorus shells used. Patients drowned in flood. Some waded 3.5 hrs through chest-deep water to escape.
Prabhakaran brought about own death
(WaPo) Prabhakaran triggered the final offensive by cutting off water to eastern Sri Lanka. He refused to accept compromises that would have granted the Tamils autonomy.
High noon in Prabhakaran’s brain
(NYT) Prabhakaran was fascinated by Western shootouts. ‘He would take slow steps, whip out the revolver and fire at an imaginary enemy.’
Karuna: Prabhakaran betrayed Tamils
(WaPo) Karuna: Gandhi assassination got LTTE banned worldwide as terrorist group. And he ‘killed a lot of Tamil intellectuals... it turned a war for Prabhakaran’s survival. It had nothing to do with the Tamil people.’
Terrorist Elvis has left the building
Prabhakaran’s last stand
(NYT) In a 2-hour firefight, Prabhakaran and his lieutenants drove in an armor-plated van accompanied by a bus filled with armed rebels toward approaching Sri Lankan forces. The battle ended when troops fired a rocket at the van.
Slow gun Prabhakaran
(NDTV) Prabhakaran shot dead by Sri Lankan troops. He and aides tried to drive out of the war zone in a small convoy, but were gunned down.
Prabhakaran made grave mistakes
Maya trusts only TamilNet
(Twitter) M.I.A.: ‘I wonder if BBC are contractually ordered to keep repeating the same casualty figure from 1987 to make the war seem bullshit.’
LTTE concedes defeat in conventional war
(TO Globe) ‘We remain with one last choice’ to remove the last weak excuse of the enemy for killing our people. We have decided to silence our guns,’ Selvarajah Pathmanathan’s statement said. Guerrilla offensive promised.
Has Prabhakaran embraced death?
(Dbsjeyaraj) “It is widely believed that the 54 year old tiger supremo ... has committed suicide along with more than 300 of his deputies and senior cadres in the Mullivaaikkaal area"
Lanka, the final battle
Prabhakaran’s end
(Reuters) A mini-submarine, underwater escape tunnel and aircraft parts suggest Prabhakaran was planning a Houdini-like escape. His bodyguards have orders to burn his body if he’s near capture.
Sri Lankan hospital shelled again
Sri Lankan war is campaign issue
(WSJ) Rahul Gandhi distinguishes between Tamils and LTTE, mindful of his father’s assassination. Congress’ opposition calls for a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka.
Planting seeds on the Gardiner
(Vid) Video of dramatic Tamil protest which shut down Toronto freeway. Tamil Tiger flags everywhere. (ht: hmm) [via]
Hundreds killed in Sri Lanka shelling
(NYT) A government doctor in Sri Lanka’s war zone said Sunday that 378 civilians had been killed and more than 1,100 wounded during intensive shelling.
Sri Lankan refugee deathtrap
(NYT) After the shelling had stopped, the Sri Lankan Tamils dug out the boat from under sand and took it to sea. Their 4 yr old died and they threw the child into the sea. Two jumped overboard, lured by twinkling lights.
Arular speaks
LTTE finds religion
(ToI) The chief of the LTTE’s political wing wants religious leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to broker a cease-fire.
Remaining Tigers mostly women?
(CSM) On Apr. 20, commandos crossed the shallow lagoon and captured the LTTE’s embankment. The next morning, 115K civilians escaped... Many of the LTTE combatants are children, and 3/4ths are young women.
Sri Lanka shells hospital
(AP) Sri Lankan forces allegedly shelled a makeshift hospital in the war zone, killing 64 civilians despite a pledge to stop using heavy weapons. Though the hospital is inside rebel-held territory, it is run by gov’t doctors.
End game
Chinese billions fund fight vs. LTTE
(ToL) Ever since China gave Sri Lanka $1B for a naval port in Hambantota, the country’s had all the money it needed to fight the LTTE. China’s encircling India with ports at Gwadar in Pakistan, Chittagong in Bangladesh and Sittwe in Burma.
Swagga like us
(WSJ) Sri Lanka said it would cut back on using heavy weaponry that causes civilian casualties. Foreign sec: ‘They are down on their backs and getting their heads kicked in. To ask for a cease-fire is a bit humorous.’
Pussies whipped
(TO Star) As always, Tamil Tigers send out the young ones as cannon fodder. This time, a protest in front of the US consulate in Toronto calling for intervention on humanitarian grounds.
Suffering in LTTE’s last stand
(NYT) The military is moving forward only yards a day as troops clear mines and booby traps. The LTTE has a tank, artillery and armor-plated vehicles. Many weakened civilians are dying after usually non-fatal medical operations.
India presses Sri Lanka on Tamils
(CNN) India’s foreign sec and natl sec advisor met with Sri Lanka’s PM over the Tamil humanitarian crisis. ‘The Indian message was just short of reading the riot act.’
LTTE not feeding hostages
(AP) UN: 6,500 Tamil civilians killed in the last 3 months in Sri Lanka. Tamil Tiger rebels using them as human shields. Conditions ‘were terrible as we did not have anything to eat.’ People abandoning dying relatives.
Tamil Canadians protest
(WaPo) Tens of thousands of Tamil protesters rallied in front of Canada’s parliament in Ottawa yesterday to stop the Sri Lankan war. This time they didn’t wave the LTTE flag.
From sys admin to Tiger hunter
(NYT Dec.) Sri Lanka defense sec Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s mission is personal: the Tigers tried to kill him two years ago. He used to work as a Unix sys admin at Loyola Law School in LA before his bro became PM.
LTTE claims 1,000 civilians died
(AP) Suddenly showing concern for civilian killings, the LTTE claimed 1,000 died in the Sri Lankan offensive. Perhaps not using them as human shields would reduce casualties.
35K civilians escape LTTE
(Bloomberg) 35,000 civilians held by the Tamil Tiger escaped. Sri Lankan soldiers prepared a final assault while giving the LTTE a 24 hour surrender deadline.
Thousands urge British intervention in Sri Lanka
(AFP) 3,500 Tamils demonstrated outside Parliament in London to stop the Sri Lanka conflict, with one entering the 3rd week of a hunger strike.
Sri Lanka holding fleeing Tamils in jail camps
(Guardian) While Sri Lanka spun its Tamil civilian camps as humanitarian, one of the camp chiefs admitted they’re jails, in case LTTE have infiltrated.
British Tamil leader convicted of terrorism
(Reuters) A British jury convicted 52-yr-old Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar of terrorism, finding him guilty of supplying bomb-making equipment to the LTTE.
Tamil hunger strikers accept water
(BBC) One of two Tamil protesters on hunger strike opposite the UK House of Commons has agreed to suspend his fast.
M.I.A. backs civilian aid to Tamils
(Guardian) M.I.A. backs plans to send civilian aid to Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan military said it will fire on any aid ship, claiming it will aid the LTTE. (ht: S)
Quantifying outrage at torture
(Trueslant) U.S. study: higher anger when Marine tortured by Iraqis than when Sri Lankan tortured by LTTE. ‘The mass American public won’t support prosecuting their countrymen for offenses against foreigners, as a matter of human nature.’
Gandhis face Tiger threat (again)
(AFP) Indian threat alert: Sonia, Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi could be attacked by Tamil Tigers in retaliation for not pressuring Sri Lanka to stop LTTE fight.
Marathon Tamil protest dwindles
(AFP) 100 Tamil protesters were still protesting on Parliament Square in London, down from 3,000 on Monday. Dozens of Tamils blocked the entrance to the premier’s office in Oslo, Norway.
London Tamil standoff continues
(Guardian) Tamil families protesting the Sri Lankan push set up tents on Westminster Bridge and refused to be moved. ‘There’s loose containment, people can leave and join.’ One protester jumped into the Thames.
Sri Lanka closes in on Prabhakaran
(Time) Up to 50K Sri Lankan soldiers are going in for the kill, with sea routes blockaded. They’ve found insulin containers suspected to belong to LTTE leader Prabhakaran. His wife’s entire family is in Denmark.
Inappropriate teasers
(Daily Show) Jon Stewart on inappropriate MSM teasers, including the clip of an LTTE bomber blowing up a crowd. ‘But first, how much blood does a baby contain? We’ll find out right after the break.’
WarGames II
Wave of immolations protest Sri Lankan war
(AP) Protesting the Sri Lankan campaign against the LTTE, Tamils have torched themselves in India and before the UN in Geneva and attempted to do so in front of 10 Downing St.
Sri Lankan cricketer says LTTE reflexes saved them
(WaPo) ‘We have been brought up in a background of terrorist activities,’ team captain Jayawardene said. ‘We are used to hearing, seeing these things. Firing, bombings. So we ducked under our seats when the firing began.’
Modesty unavailable at Sri Lankan checkpoints
(WaPo) Over 2/3rds the Tamil Tiger suicide bombers have been women, so they get groped at checkpoints... An 18-year-old student was raped and strangled by soldiers at one roadblock. In the cover-up they killed her mother, brother and neighbor.
Tamils face open-ended detention
(CSM) A Sri Lankan resettlement camp for Tamils is taking on an air of permanence. Classrooms are being built. A post office, bank, clinic, and vocational training center have already opened.
Sri Lanka claims war over in days
(BBC) Sri Lankan troops are advancing on the last town still held by the Tamil Tigers in the north, Puthukkudiyiruppu.
Sri Lanka militarized to defeat Tigers
(WaPo) In 2 yrs Sri Lanka armed its villages and nearly doubled its military. Officials sent text messages to youths and put patriotic pop hits on the radio... The top 3 officials — pres, def sec, adviser — are brothers, so the war is a family affair.
LTTE claims raid a success
(AP) The raid was a suicide mission aimed at the two installations, but anti-aircraft fire sent the planes out of control before they reached their targets. At least one of the planes was packed with 287 pounds (130 kilograms) of high explosives.
Colombo friendly fire kills civvies
Colombo had plenty of warning
(ToL) Sri Lanka’s military activated its air defences an hour before the air attack after reports from its ground troops of the sound of light aircraft. It was a major embarrassment for the gov’t, which claimed it destroyed the Tigers’ hidden runways.
Tigers wanted to use planes before capture
(Reuters) The thundering of anti-aircraft guns erupted over Colombo’s streets and tracer fire and spotlights lit up the skies, darkened after authorities cut the power when one plane was spotted on radar. ‘I saw a fireball entering the tax building.’
Two Tiger planes shot down
(NYT) Two Tiger light planes circling over the Sri Lankan capital were shot down, with one crashing into the government tax office and injuring 42 people.
007 Tigers
(BBC) Human Rights Watch: both Sri Lankan army and LTTE are killing civilians. The army said it had found diving equipment and underwater scooters used by suicide bombers.
Tigers bomb Colombo from air
(Reuters) Two LTTE planes dropped at least one bomb on Colombo, hitting the tax headquarters. One was shot down. More: [via]
Tigers shooting fleeing civilians
(BBC) The UN says civilians trying to escape the Tamil Tigers’ last stand were shot at by the Tigers, some killed.
Sri Lanka denies envoy
(Guardian) Britain appoints special envoy to Sri Lanka, a prelude to demanding UN access. Sri Lanka says he won’t be allowed in. Tamil hand-picked by gov’t says LTTE fired on fleeing civilians.
Fleeing Tamils jailed
(ToL) The Sri Lankan gov’t will open detention camps surrounded by barbed wire to house and screen Tamils fleeing the war with the LTTE, which human rights groups are calling concentration camps.
Grammys fund terrorism
(NYT) ‘Frankly, M.I.A.’s very lucky to get away with supporting, even indirectly, perhaps the most ruthless terrorist outfit in the world,’ said Suresh Jayawickrama, a Sinhalese songwriter in Colombo. (ht: Shashwati)
Tigers keep killing civilians
(IHT) A female Tamil Tiger suicide bomber mixed with a group of civilians fleeing Sri Lanka’s war zone blew herself up, killing an unknown number of people and wounding 60.
Looking past the Tigers
(VOA) ‘Once the army occupies the north, the LTTE still has a large number of guerrillas underground that will rely on the support of the Tamil diaspora,’ unless there is a political solution.
Sri Lankan military may have cluster-bombed hospital
(Guardian) More than 50 civilians were killed after cluster bombs were dropped on the last functioning hospital in the north, which implies the Sri Lankan military was responsible.
Sri Lankan hospital shelled again
(CNN) A hospital caught in the middle of fierce fighting between government forces and Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka has been shelled for a ninth time in four days.
M.I.A. isn’t only Lankan with visa issues
(WSJ) LTTE splinter group leader Col. Karuna spent months in a British jail for traveling on someone else’s passport. His protege Pillayan usurped his role... Photos of Sri Lankan history: [via]
Sri Lankan hospital shelled
(NYT) 3 artillery attacks [unclear who fired] struck a Sri Lanka hospital during the push against the LTTE, killing more than 6. The Sri Lankan gov’t threatened to expel foreign journies covering civilian casualties.
To catch a thief
(BBC) The Sri Lankan army is using guerrilla tactics against the guerrillas, with teams of fighters deep in the jungle and highly manoeuvrable boats to take on the Tigers’ fledgling navy.
UN evacs 2,000 civvies
M.I.A. says father not a Tiger
(WSJ) M.I.A.: My father was an intellectual who tried to mediate between the [Sri Lankan] government, the Indian government and the Tamil Tigers. He moved to Cambridge to research and write books about sustainable development.
Swim the friendly seas
(BBC) Photo of seized 35-foot armor-plated Tamil Tiger submarine seized by the Sri Lankan army, with goofy painted grin.
Four plead guilty to buying arms for Tigers
(Reuters) 4 Long Island men pled guilty to trying to buy heat-seeking missiles and AK-47s from undercover FBI agents for the Tamil Tigers.
Tigers holding 100K hostage
(Hindu) Mullaithivu town is on a narrow stretch of land between Nanthikandal lagoon and the Indian Ocean. It was considered the LTTE’s main military base. The gov’t says 100K civilians are being held hostage by the LTTE.
Tigers on last legs
(Reuters) Fonseka is forcing the LTTE forces towards the sea. Since the Tigers wear vials of cyanide, surrender seems unlikely. Many expect the hardest-core Tigers to go underground and conduct hit-and-run attacks.
Last Tiger town falls
(NYT) Sri Lanka says it’s captured the last LTTE town Mullaitivu. Meanwhile, the gov’ts attack on journalists continues.
LTTE’s shrinking territory
Sri Lanka: Cheney’s wet dream
(WSJ op/ed) For those who argue that there’s no military solution for terrorism, look at Sri Lanka. The Tigers murdered moderate Tamil leaders. Rajiv Gandhi airlifted them food to curry favor with Indian Tamils. Now they’re on the run.
Lanka takes Elephant Pass
(AFP) Sri Lanka took Elephant Pass. The LTTE is almost totally confined to Mullaittivu jungle, where some 300,000 civilians are also living.
Sinhalese insecurity
(WSJ) The Sinhalese feel squeezed between Jaffna and Tamil Nadu. The sole painting on the Army Commander’s wall is of a Sinhalese king with a vanquished Tamil chieftain at his feet.
LTTE took Kilinochchi as human shields
(BBC) Sri Lankan choppers flew journies low and fast at treetop height to prevent being shot down. Wild peacocks staggered from prop wash. The LTTE took many Tamils as human shields.
Flip-flop terrorists
(AP) The LTTE build 11-mile-long defenses: a 4’ x 6’ deep moat filled with water and unexploded grenades; an earthern berm 6’ high x 15’ deep. Rubber flip-flops lay scattered about Kilinochchi.
Ravana cornered
(Guardian) LTTE leader Prabhakaran may be co-ordinating resistance to the army offensive from an air-conditioned bunker complex 30 ft below ground around Mullaitivu.
Firecracker celebration
Tigers on the run
(AP) Sri Lankan air force jets and helicopters bombed a series of rebel targets in the north and northeast. They are assaulting Elephant Pass, a gateway to Jaffna. The LTTE captured an army base there 8 years ago.
Kilinochchi falls
(AFP) LTTE capital has fallen in 9 month military offensive. In past, LTTE dislodged the military from their Elephant Pass base at the entrance to Jaffna.
Peace, love and war
(WSJ) Photo 2: Former Indian pres Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam rides with the Dalai Lama. 11: Sri Lankan jet takes off for Kilinochchi.
Tigers kill 27 in opposition
(AFP) A Tiger suicide bomber killed 27 inside an opposition party’s office, including a retired general. The Sri Lankan army is on the verge of capturing LTTE stronghold Kilinochchi.
Tamil charities go to buying LTTE weapons
(Canada) A formet LTTE commander said the group routinely diverted humanitarian donations into arms sales. He called Canada the No. 1 one source of external income.
Prabhakaran shakes the maple tree
(TO Globe pdf) Prabhakarn’s letter to the LTTE office in Canada setting out a collection target for the next 6 months. Reports on outsourcing the collection process to a desi caal center are unfounded. [via]