NEW LTTE CHIEF DETAINED, SAYS SRI LANKA MILITARY

By P. Vijian

NEW DELHI, Aug 7 (Bernama) -- The Sri Lankan military Friday confirmed that
K.Pathmanathan, the self-appointed chief of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam
LTTE), was detained in a Southeast Asian capital on Wednesday.

Speaking to Bernama from Colombo, Sri Lanka military spokesperson Brigadier
Udaya Nanayakkara confirmed that Pathmanathan @ KP was being held in custody in
Sri Lanka.

"Yes, we detained him on Aug 5, in a Southeast Asian country but at this
point, we can't say which country.

"He was brought back to Colombo where he is being interrogated now. No other
person was arrested," he added.

The 54-year-old Pathmanathan was once top arms negotiator and financial
controller of the LTTE, headed by Velupillai Prabakaran until he was killed on
May 18.

Since then, Pathmanathan was on the run and believed to be operating from a
Southeast Asian capital, shuttling to several European countries under different
identities while trying to revive the armed-movement.

After Sri Lankan forces killed many of the group's top leaders during the
Eelam War IV in May, in the country's northern region, Pathmanathan designated
himself as the movement's new chief, though not widely accepted by many in the
existing inner circle of the decimated LTTE.
-- BERNAMA