Saturday, January 08, 2005

State radio’s 'Prabha dead' story a dead rope

The LTTE dismissed yesterday a state-run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation report that suggested its leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran and his intelligence wing leader Pottu Amman were missing and presumed dead after the tsunami catastrophe, saying it was not a time for false propaganda.

An official statement accused the SLBC of broadcasting reports that are "fabricated by interested parties" and added that they "strongly protested against the mischievous act".

The SLBC attributed its report to Chief of Defence Staff and Navy Commander Daya Sandagiri. However, Vice Admiral Sandagiri last night told The Sunday Times that he had not made the remarks.

Several foreign media outlets gave wide play yesterday to the report quoting the SLBC. However, last night the SLBC retracted its report.