Vowing to continue the “liberation struggle” despite the death of LTTE’s political head S P Thamilselvan in an aerial raid, Tamil Tigers’ elusive supremo V Prabhakaran has said Sri Lankan security forces “cruelly killed the peace dove” by targeting the outfit’s senior leader.

The struggle of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was “moving on like a lengthy river of blaze,” he said in a statement following Thamilselvan’s killing in the raid by the Sri Lankan Air Force on a gathering of high-profile rebel leaders in northern Kilinochchi on Friday.

“In this new form, he has set alight in our heavy hearts a deep yearning for the goal (of freedom). He has nourished that yearning. Strengthened by his nourishment, we will continue to travel on our path towards the goal with renewed determination.”

The Tiger supremo said, “We do not see the Buddhist universal love. Sinhala nation (Sri Lanka) did not open its heart and send a peace message. On the contrary, it is sending war-vultures that are dropping giant bombs. It has cruelly killed our peace dove.”

“Despite the repeated and continuous calls from the international community to find a peaceful resolution to the Tamil national question, we have not seen any goodwill from the Sinhala nation.”

Prabhakaran said: “Thamilselvan was close to me ever since he joined our freedom movement. I loved him deeply. I taught him as my own beloved younger brother.

“Buried within his beautiful smile, I recognised, right from the beginning, a thousand profound meanings, his abilities and his leadership qualities.” “I raised him as a great commander, an unparalleled political head, a diplomat who communicated with the entire world, and a skilled negotiator," the LTTE chief said.