LTTE still active overseas: Rajapaksa

January 03, 2015 14:23

The threat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has not been wiped out and the rebel group is still active overseas, a top Sri Lankan defence official has warned while criticising the opposition for seeking to reduce military presence in the Tamil-dominated north.

"Prabakaran was killed but if anyone thinks that the danger has been wiped out its not true. Those who fled are very active overseas," Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said at a campaign rally of his brother and incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

"The threat of LTTE reviving its terror campaign is very real and the country could be plunged back into the dark era of terrorism of the 80s," the defence secretary, who spearheaded the war against the LTTE, said.

"It is with much effort we have been able to maintain national security. So people who seek power by trying to reduce military camps in the north are wrong," he said.

Sri Lanka will go to the polls on January 8. 68-year-old Rajapaksa is seeking a record third term -- a move widely seen as an attempt by the president to seek a fresh six-year mandate amid signs of fading popularity.

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