LANKAN ARMY DENIES PRABAKARAN'S SON HEADING TO M'SIA

By P. Vijian

NEW DELHI, April 7 (Bernama) -- The Sri Lankan Army has denied that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) chief's son, believed to have been wounded in fighting against government forces, was heading to Malaysia for medical treatment.

Velupillai Prabakaran's son, Charles Anthony, was reported to have been
leading an LTTE contingent in the rebel's stronghold of Pudhukkudiyiruppu in
the island's north, fighting against government forces, when he was injured on
March 8.

"It is not true, these are exaggerated stories. It is not possible for him
to go to such a location (Malaysia).

"He is still in the 'No-Fire Zone' seeking medical treatment. His father
(Prabhakaran) is also here," army spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara told
Bernama from Colombo in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Fleeing civilians from the war zone were believed to have revealed that the
24-year-old Charles and another senior LTTE cadre Swarnam, who lost a leg in the
battle, were being sent to Malaysia by sea for treatment.

However, the army has categorically rubbished such claims.

Quoting war victims, news reports were rife in Colombo that LTTE leaders
were making preparations to send Charles and Swarnam by ship to Malaysia.

The LTTE has been staging a civil war with the Sri Lankan Government for
almost a quarter of a century -- fighting for a separate homeland in the
island's northeast.

More than 70,000 people perished on both sides in one of the longest armed
conflicts in South Asia, which has wrecked the Sinhalese-majority nation, once
a prospering tourist island.
-- BERNAMA