Colombo, Aug 27: Hundreds of LTTE cadres have poured into Wanni through the Elephant Pass to enable the outfit plan its electoral strategy, The Island newspaper reported on Sunday.
The daily reports that while the motive of the outfit remains unclear, Wanni enjoys a strategic importance and these rebels could be deployed to carry out target-oriented operations in any war zone as and when needed.
The report said LTTE camps have become a hive of activity for the Oct 10 polls.
Meanwhile, civilians in Wanni have heard rumours that several squads of Black Tigers were in the process of being despatched to Colombo to join the other members already there.
LTTE supremo V. Prabhakaran has ruled out any serious talk with the present Peoples' Alliance government or in other words wants the present government led by Chandrika Kumaratunga to quit. It also means that the LTTE chief won't be unhappy if the opposition United National Party were to win the election. Neither would the outfit be happy if smaller Tamil parties or the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress gain more seats in Parliament and widen their influence.
Many political analysts are predicting a hung parliament, and this may be exactly what the LTTE wants. “If the President is unable to govern due to problems of getting bills through
Parliament, the country will be plunged into chaos, to the detriment of all except LTTE, who “will doubtless seize the opportunity of a vacuum in leadership,” to go on an offensive in the North-East.
In the past, the LTTE has tried to make its mark on election campaigns by staging massive attacks on armed forces camps in the North-East. Even More serious are the attacks by Black Tiger Suicide bombers on politicians during the election campaign.
Since the mid-eighties, the LTTE has carried out a systematic campaign to assassinate every prominent or upcoming politician whom they consider a threat.
If the polls are being held in this backdrop, it is no secret that the LTTE has seized a three month long lull to re-equip and re-train their cadres.
— UNI
