Sri Lankan authorities today maintained that there was "nothing to suggest" that elusive LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran has fled the island even as Malaysian police sounded an alert following reports that the guerrilla leader may have entered that country.
"There is nothing to suggest that Prabhakaran has left the country," a Sri Lankan defence official said after reports appeared in Malaysian media that the police have ordered a nationwide alert for the LTTE chief.
"We are also using our local intelligence network to ascertain if he is already in the country," Malaysian police chief Musa Hassan said following reports that Prabhakaran may have fled to Malaysia or Thailand.
"We do not know how this is being suggested when there is no proof yet to back claims of such a possibility," the Sri Lankan official said.
Army Chief Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka had last week said that the LTTE supremo might have fled the country.
The Tamil Tigers are now surrounded in their last bastion of Mullaittivu with the Sri Lankan military saying that the troops have overrun the rebels’ main military command centre deep in the jungles of the coastal district.
The sophisticated underground operational centre, suspected to be frequented by Prabhakaran himself, had underground bunkers, auditorium and briefing rooms with detailed maps showing rebel and army deployments.
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