Body of Tamil Tigers leader 'found'

Tuesday, 19 May 2009

Sri Lankan state television has broadcast video footage of what the army says is the body of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the Tamil Tigers.

The military said the body was found in a lagoon on Tuesday morning, contradicting claims by senior Tamil officials that Prabhakaran was alive in a safe location.

The images also showed what appeared to be Prabhakaran's LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) identity card.

Hours before the images were released, the LTTE dismissed the claims that Prabhakaran was dead and vowed that the Tamil struggle for a homeland would continue.