COLOMBO: In a surprise move, Tamil Tigers facing rout in battle with Lankan troops and its entire top leadership, including supremo V Prabhakaran, in hiding on Saturday named a high-profile representative, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, as its new contact with the international community.
The rebel outfit said Pathmanathan would head its newly established Department of International Relations and represent the Tigers in any future peace initiatives, the Pro-LTTE website Tamilnet said. The new representative would be based outside Sri Lanka.
A letter sent to the various international actors by the LTTE said Pathmanathan will be the primary point of contact for engaging with the international community, the website said. However, the site did not name the international contacts.
LTTE has been proscribed by leading nations, including US, UK, Australia and India, for the past many years.
Confirming the appointment, LTTE's Political Head B Nadesan told the TamilNet that Pathmanathan had been engaged in correspondence with the international actors and will be working abroad with required mandate from the LTTE leadership.
Nadesan blamed the Lankan government for stepped up attacks and claimed that most of the civilians were forced to take shelter inside bunkers.
He also said that the civilian casualties were mounting in some areas.
"Only a permanent ceasefire mooted by the international community and negotiations followed by it would resolve the conflict as envisaged by the Tamil people and the LTTE," Nadesan said even as President Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday ruled out a ceasefire with the Tiger rebels.