After days of speculation as to whether LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is dead or still alive, the Tamil Tigers have finally admitted that their leader died on May 17. Last week, the Sri Lanka government released photos of Prabhakaran’s body but pro-Tamil websites insisted that he was ‘alive and safe.’

Now, for the first time, a confirmation of Prabhakaran’s death has been issued by the Tigers who declared a whole week of mourning starting May 25 for their ‘incomparable leader’ who had ‘attained martyrdom.’

The official announcement issued by the LTTE stated that their leader was killed ‘fighting the military oppression of the Sri Lankan government.’ Most of the guerilla group’s senior leaders were also killed during the final and bloodiest military offensive on the group.

The defeat of the LTTE brought to an end the group’s 26-year fight for a separate Tamil homeland and self-determination. Approximately 270,000 civilians have been displaced because of the fighting. They are currently packed in refugee camps in the north. The United Nations, the Red Cross, and other international aid groups have described the conditions in these refugee camps as a humanitarian crisis.

LTTE spokesman Selvarasa Pathmanathan, the defeated group’s head of international relations, said, “We have already announced that we have given up violence and agreed to enter a democratic process to achieve the rights for the Tamil (self) determination of our people.”

The former guerrilla group has announced that it would now employ non-violent methods to fight for Tamils’ rights. They also send the message to Tamils all over the world to “restrain from harmful acts to themselves or anyone else in this hour of extreme grief.”

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Via BBC