(2 Nov 2007)
FILE: Geneva, Switzerland - 24 February, 2006
1. Head of LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) political wing, S.P. Tamilselvan, and other LTTE delegates during cease-fire talks with Sri Lankan government
FILE: Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka - 12 July, 2007
2. Wide of exterior of Tamilselvan's house
3. Mid of Tamilselvan speaking
4. Various of LTTE soldiers
STORYLINE:
A Sri Lankan airstrike pounded a meeting of top rebel leaders early on Friday, killing the head of the Tamil Tigers' political wing and five others in an attack seen as a major victory for the government in its long fight with the guerrillas.
The killing of S.P. Tamilselvan, assumed by many to be the secretive group's second in command, was certain to badly damage the rebels' morale nearly two weeks after they stunned the government with a devastating attack on an air base.
Another five rebel leaders were killed in the bombing, according to a statement from the rebel group that was e-mailed to reporters and confirmed Tamilselvan's death.
Rebel spokesmen did not answer phone calls seeking further comment.
With secretive Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran almost never seen publicly in recent years, Tamilselvan had become the rebel leadership's link to the outside world.
He regularly held talks with peace envoys and diplomats, met with foreign humanitarian workers and gave interviews to the few international journalists allowed by the government to cross into rebel-held territory in the north.
He headed the group's delegation at the failed peace talks in Geneva last year.
In an interview with The Associated Press in July, he promised to retaliate for the army's capture of eastern Sri Lanka from the rebels.
In a sign of the focus on fighting by the rebel group, where everyone from politicians to doctors are also combatants, Tamilselvan held the rank of brigadier, the highest rank in the rebel force.
The rebels have been fighting since 1983 to create an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, following decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese-controlled governments.
More than 70-thousand have been killed in the fighting.

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