 The reclusive leader of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas has appeared in public for the first time since the tsunami, quelling rumours that he had been killed in the disaster, a pro-rebel website reported. Velupillai Prabhakaran had met relief workers in the northern town of Kilinochchi on Monday, Tamilnet.com said. It carried a picture showing him in combat fatigues chairing a meeting. "Although our people have suffered through severe hardships, we are shocked by the scale of destruction and loss of life the tsunami has inflicted on our people," it quoted Prabhakaran as saying. Rumours that Prabhakaran had been among the more than 38,000 Sri Lankans killed in the tsunami have swirled around Colombo and were once even reported by the state radio. |