British Tamils mourn Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 November 2007, 00:41 GMT]
Several thousand British Tamils paid their respects Monday to the political head of the LTTE, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan and five other LTTE officials killed in a targeted airstrike by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Friday. The event was addressed by parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), local Tamil councilors and community figures.



As mourners packed a large hall at the Harrow Leisure centre, thousands more waited outside, prompting organizers to make announcements, urging those who had placed flowers to depart so as to make room for others.

As queues of those waiting to place flowers before the portraits of the six LTTE officials continued to grow, organizers, decided to allow the scheduled speakers to address the crowd over the lines.

Mrs. Adele Balasingham, wife of Mr. Anton Balasingham, the LTTE’s theoretician and chief negotiator who passed away last December, also paid her respects.

Amongst the speakers were three parliamentarians of the TNA, Ms. Padmini Sithamparanathan, Mr. Vino Noharathalingam and Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam.



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