NEW DELHI -- When Velupillai Prabhakaran, the rebel leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), held his first press conference after a gap of 12 years, he generated some optimism that was no sooner overshadowed by pessimism.
The island nation has seen a bloody ethnic conflict between the majority Sinhala-speaking Buddhists and the minority largely Hindu Tamils who are fighting for a separate homeland. The civil war had gone on for almost two decades, before a recent Norwegian-brokered process set in motion a ceasefire between the government forces and the Tigers.
The rare meeting at Killinochchi in Sri Lanka indicated a degree of positive shift in Prabhakaran's tack. But it also revealed a few old black stripes on the top Tiger's coat.