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New Tamil Tiger head is arrested | New Tamil Tiger head is arrested |
(about 1 hour later) | |
The new leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, has been arrested, officials say. | |
He was arrested in a a south-east Asian country but he is currently being held in Sri Lanka. | |
The rebels have confirmed the arrest. Mr Pathmanathan became the leader of the remnants of the Tigers after their defeat in May by Sri Lankan forces. | The rebels have confirmed the arrest. Mr Pathmanathan became the leader of the remnants of the Tigers after their defeat in May by Sri Lankan forces. |
But the BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo says the exact circumstances surrounding his arrest remain unclear. | |
While Mr Pathmanathan is in the custody of the Sri Lankan authorities, he was reportedly picked up in a south-east Asian country. | |
Earlier reports from Sri Lankan military officials suggested the arrest took place in Thailand, but Bangkok later denied such reports. | |
Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn denied Mr Pathmanathan was arrested in his country but conceded there were "reports that he has been travelling in and out of Thailand". | |
A pro-rebel website said Mr Pathmanathan was abducted from the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur and blamed Sri Lankan and Malaysian intelligence for his disappearance. | |
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters he could neither confirm nor deny the report. | |
Officials from both countries have cast doubt on the varying accounts and the full details are not likely to emerge soon, our correspondent says. | |
'Very significant' | |
Speaking to journalists in Colombo, defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella, would only say that Mr Pathmanathan was arrested "in the Asian region" within the past couple of days. | |
He described the arrest as "very very significant" because, he said, while Mr Pathmanathan was still at large many people thought the Tamil Tigers were still "alive and kicking". | |
Mr Pathmanathan is believed to have run the LTTE's arms procurement and smuggling networks and was wanted by Interpol | |
Mr Pathmanathan is also wanted in India in connection with the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by a suspected Tamil female suicide bomber in 1991. | Mr Pathmanathan is also wanted in India in connection with the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by a suspected Tamil female suicide bomber in 1991. |
The war in Sri Lanka ended earlier this year | |
"He is in Sri Lanka now and is being questioned by investigators at the moment," Sri Lankan military spokesperson Brig Udaya Nanayakkara told the BBC's Ethirajan Anbarasan. | |
At the close of Sri Lanka's war he issued a statement saying the Tigers would try to achieve their goals using non-violent methods. Only two weeks ago he was named as their new head. | |
As the new rebel leader, Mr Pathmanathan said the LTTE would try non-violent methods to achieve their goal of a separate state for the Tamil minority. |