Sri Lanka promises to give Prabakaran’s death certificate to India

(May 21, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lankahas promised to give the certificate regarding LTTE chief Velupillai Prabaakaran’s death to close the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, India’s National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan said on Thursday.

He said Indiawas going by public statements from the Sri Lankan government that Prabakaran, 54, had been killed in combat in the island’s northeast earlier in the week and had no reason to doubt Colombo’s announcement.

Mr. Narayanan told reporters here after talks with President Mahinda Rajapaksa that the Sri Lankan government has made a public announcement on Prabakaran’s death.

“We will go by that. We will of course wait for a death certificate from the government so that Rajiv assassination case can be sort of closed,” said Narayanan, who arrived here on Wednesday along with Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon.

“Beyond that, it is not possible for us to do anything. They have promised to give us a formal death certificate with regard to Prabakaran,” he added.

Asked if Sri Lankahad failed to abide by the April 27 assurance to India that it will not use heavy weapons in the battle against Tamil Tigers, Mr. Menon said: “We are not in a position to confirm or deny these allegations.”

“We were not present on the ground. I assume a lot of this is, let’s face it, because emotions are running high. So before we give a categorical answer, we would like to know for ourselves, see what we can find out, but we have to let emotions die down first.” - (PTI)

-Sri Lanka Guardian