By Walter Jayawardhana

Sources close to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and other Tamil sources believe that KP alias Selvarasa Pathmanathan was betrayed to the Sri Lankan authorities by tipping off his whereabouts before being arrested on Interpol warrants.

Well informed Tamil journalist D.B.S. Jeyaraj said, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-It is widely believed that the arrest was made possible through ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-inside informationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ supplied by some members of the LTTE abroad who were opposed to KP donning the tiger leadership mantle after the demise of supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

The journalist further said that contrary to earlier reports he was not arrested in Bangkok, Thailand but in Kulalumpur , Malaysia while he was meeting a London delegation in a hotel.According to him he was taken from the Malysian capital to Bangkok ,Thailand before being flown to Colombo on a special flight where he is being interrogated by Sri Lankan detectives.

The Jeyaraj report said, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-He had received a call on his cellular phone. KP had then signaled to his visitors that he was going out to the corridor and walked away while conversing on the phone.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-He had not returned for a long time and the when the worried visitors from Britain went out in search there was no sign of the new global tiger chief.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Meanwhile the friend who had been talking to KP on the phone had heard a sudden thud and some noise while chatting. The phone went dead and repeated calls were not successful.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The friend then alerted some assistants of KP in Malaysia who went in search of KP to the place where he was staying in KL. The place was empty but KPƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s insulin and syringes and other medical stuff was still there.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

KP, a witty man who with ease made deals on gun running with some of the most tough arms dealers in the world also had his enemies inside the LTTE. Once he retired to the unknown married a Thai woman when others who were greedy of his arms procuring business took over. But he had to come as the others were not as capable like him. When he took over as the LTTE leader others opposed him on flimsy grounds.

Jeyaraj said, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-(His leadership) was vehemently opposed by a section of the Diasporic tigers led by Perinbanayagam Sivaparan alias NediyavanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

Speculators have said most of the LTTE elements would start fighting for the millions of dollars piled up in places like London

Although KP was the most precious prize they wanted the government is also on the look out for others. President Rajapaksa speaking in Kandy said,that the government is also on the manhunt for the other remnants of the LTTE. Another on target is believed to be Castro who was also on LTTEƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s procurement business.