Meanwhile, the condition of about 280,000 civilian refugees who have been displaced because of the recently ended conflict is worsening. Colombo has already appealed to foreign countries to seek and arrest the newly appointed leader. The Sri Lanka government has accused Selvarasa Pathmanathan of running an international weapons smuggling ring to supply LTTE with arms in the past.
In a press release, the LTTE new executive has stated that "the ultimate goal of a free Tamil Eelam has not changed". According to The Guardian, the movement will "reorganize on democratic principles". He further added that he will reformulate its administrative structures and modify the forms and strategies of the liberation struggle. Pathmanathan, former LTTE's head of international relations, has said that his movement will not resort to arms anymore. Former historical leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was killed by the Sri Lankan army during last May's military offensive. Selvarasa Pathmanathan made the announcement recently after being appointed new LTTE chief. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the armed movement that has fought for the independence of the Tamil territory in Sri Lanka for the last 25 years, has declared it is to abandon violence to open a new stage of political struggle.
The Sinhalese government has accused the new leader of smuggling weapons into Tamil territory during the war period.The movement will reorganize itself on democratic principles to achieve independence for Tamils of Sri Lanka