UK tabloid: Tamil Tigers setting up government-in-exile office in Caracas http://www.pr-inside.com/uk-tabloid-tamil-tigers-setting-up-r1905117.htm

The UK tabloid The Mirror claimed that the Tamil Tigers are organizing an international office in Caracas.According to journalist, Jamila Najmuddin, the British government is about to receive an "extensive" report of a possible build up of Tamil political presence in Venezuela.The journalist said the tip came from Sri Lankan government envoy in Cuba,Tamara Kuliyanayagam. The envoy is said to be in Venezuela discussing the matter with the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry.

The Tamil Tigers were defeated last year after decades of fighting to establish an independent Tamil state in northern Sri Lanka.Observers say there is no evidence that the Venezuelan government has given any support to the Tigers and indeed President Chavez angered Tamil supporters in London and Europe when he invited the then Sri Lankan President to visit Venezuela just after that government's successful offensive against the Tamil Tigers.

The Mirror reported that the defeated Tamils are re-grouping to create a transnational government (in exile) in Europe and other world capitals.The Sri Lanka government has responded launching an international campaign to convince governments not to accept the presence of a Tamil government in exile. Tamil groups in London continue to protest in Parliament Square against the majority Sinhalese government that represses Tamils in the north and whom they accuse of human rights abuses against Tamil Tiger supporters in concentration camps.