Pathmanathan, second-most wanted man in Sri Lanka”

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

(May 20, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Note from the Editors of Sri Lanka Guardian: We are publishing here below a feature on KP – Selvarasa Pathmanathan, acknowledged as the new leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam that appeared in The Hindu September 12, 2007. He is an internationally wanted man who claims Velupillai Prabhakaran is alive and that there are still thousands of people trapped in the No Fire Zone in The Wanni at the mercy of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.

Even a higher number of trapped civilians are being traded by the pro-LTTE protesters in Toronto (Tuesday May 19) and they too are claiming that Prabhakaran is alive and will emerge soon to continue the war against the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. One of the protesters claimed that the body that is being shown as that of Prabhakaran is one on which an express plastic surgery was done in India and rushed back to Colombo within 24 hours.

One of the saddest aspects of these protests is the kind of ignorance that has dominated their stands and demands and also the type of people who are leading them with mischievous intent. Even more sickening is that there are people and organizations to believe them. May be they will even believe we are living on Mars if they are told so.

The Hindu feature on Pathmanathan and Pottu Amman:

Courtesy: The Hindu

COLOMBO: In a recent special report on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Jane’s Defence Weekly said Kumaran Pathmanathan, reportedly arrested in Bangkok, was the second-most wanted man in Sri Lanka. He was a highly compete nt and elusive operative and his department reportedly sourced arms in various countries and operated a fleet of deep-sea vessels, known as the Sea Pigeons. Normally registered in Panama, Honduras or Liberia, the Sea Pigeons were primarily tasked with delivery of procured weapons to LTTE bases in Sri Lanka and they might also be in other LTTE enterprises, legal or otherwise.

The report, “Feeding the Tigers — how Sri Lanka insurgents fund the war,” released in the second week of August, said the two overarching financial and procurement bodies were the Aiyanna Group, directed by Pottu Amman, and the Office of Overseas Purchases, directed by Kumaran Pathmanathan, alias KP, and source of the office’s nickname, the KP Department.

“Both men have extant Interpol Red Notices listed against them. The Aiyanna Group functions as the Tamil Tigers’ clandestine intelligence and operations body, and is likely to be responsible for monitoring and ensuring the organisation’s financial support and revenue streams. The Aiyanna Group’s global management allegedly acts as overseer among Tamil communities in Western countries through LTTE front organisations.”

The report said, “The Aiyanna Group and KP Department cadres are strategically placed internationally to correspond closely to Sri Lankan Tamil enclaves, which provide the main source of LTTE money, manpower and weapons. The geographical distribution of Tamil communities enables the LTTE to use them as networked operations centres.”

While Cambodia is the hub of the LTTE East Asia Network, Thailand continues to serve as the most important country for trans-shipment of munitions and coordination of logistics. The report said Thailand’s excellent communications infrastructure, proximity to former war zones in both Cambodia and (Myanmar) and its western coastline facing the Bay of Bengal and Sri Lanka beyond made Thailand the ancient interface between the LTTE’s war zones.

The LTTE had created one of the most sophisticated insurgencies in the world, largely due to a complex global network of financial resources and weapons. With financial and procurement structures well organised and strategically positioned around the globe, the group’s profit margin would be the envy of any multinational — $200-300 million a year, the report said.

-Sri Lanka Guardian