Colombo, July 07: The leader of Sri Lanka's main moderate Tamil party retained his position despite pressure from Tamil Tiger rebels to remove him, party officials said today. The Tamil United Liberation Front (Tulf) said that its central committee at a crucial meeting overnight confirmed V Anandasangaree as the leader of the moderate party brushing aside demands from tigers to replace him.

The Tulf Central Central Committee had unanimously endorsed Anandasangaree who is believed to be critical of the Tamil Tigers despite his party having agreed to accept the tigers as sole representatives of Tamils for purposes of peace negotiations. The Tulf formed itself into a broad alliance with several other Tamil groups at the December 2001 election and won 15 seats in the 225-member Parliament.

The alliance was seen as a proxy of the Tamil Tigers, but Anandasangaree has been taking an independent line to distance his party from the activities of the LTTE.

Bureau Report