Sunday, January 9 2005 12:41 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: The Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) has retracted its report that elusive Tamil Tiger head Velupillai Prabhakaran and his intelligence chief Pottu Amman are among the dead or missing in the tsunami disaster, an SLBC official said today (Jan 9, 2005).

The State broadcaster had yesterday (Jan 8, 2005) run reports on its English and Tamil language services that the two men had not been seen since the tsunami struck the island on December 26, killing more than 30,000 people.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) slammed the broadcaster for carrying the reports, saying now was "not the time for gossip mongering and malicious propaganda".

"The LTTE and the Tamil people wish to strongly protest against this mischievous act of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, stooping down to such low level of broadcasting news that is fabricated by interested parties," a LTTE statement said.

"At a time of a national catastrophe of this magnitude, it is very regrettable that a responsible media of the Government takes upon itself the job of spreading rumours and speculation that tend to create confusion in the minds of the people," it added.

The SLBC offered no reason for its retraction of the report.

The Island newspaper had reported that an expensive coffin "for a top LTTE leader" had been smuggled into a northern Tiger area inside a container carrying relief for tsunami survivors.