The London-based Thaisanam TV, which is on Eutelsat, a major European satellite provider, recently provided a free coverage of LTTE Political Wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan’s funeral.

The coverage included the funeral in Kilinochchi and some ceremonies held in European countries, well informed sources said.

The sources explained that Thaisanam TV which was usually scrambled and viewable by subscribers only was made available free on this occasion. Andy Love, a British MP, declared open their London office, situated at 72-74 Chase Side Southgate London N 14 4PR, on the invitation of the Tharisnam management last June, the sources said, adding that the service was in the process of further expanding its operations.

The two-day coverage (on November 5 and 6) of Thamilselvan’s funeral took place ahead of a concentrated attempt by the SLAF to neutralise the LTTE propaganda network. Since the air strike which killed Thamilselvan on November 2, the SLAF had targeted communication facilities located in Kilinochchi.

A smaller clandestine Voice of Tigers (VOT) station continued broadcasts despite Tuesday’s destruction of the main VOT facility at Thiruvyar, Kilinochchi.

The military said that VOT broadcasts were heard in the Jaffna peninsula even after the SLAF successfully bombed the facility which was upgraded with the equipment procured with the help of international donors.

"They are operating a smaller transmitter, most probably a mobile unit," an authoritative official said, expressing the belief that the main station had definitely been silenced. "We couldn’t even monitor their broadcasts in Trincomalee. It wouldn’t be easy to restore the crippled radio station," he added.

The SLAF this week targeted what was widely believed to be the LTTE main satellite up-link to primarily Europe-based television networks. The government initially thought that Sunday’s SLAF strike on what was described as a satellite coordinating centre, situated north-east of Kilinochchi, would cripple television services intended for Europe.

The LTTE launched live daily 15-minute satellite broadcasts in late March 2005 to Europe and expanded the services to South East Asia in August before extending the daily broadcasts to 90 minutes later the same year. Despite the EU ban on the LTTE, the group deals with a major European satellite service provider, the sources said.

The sources said that the LTTE had managed to maintain their European television services. Had Sunday’s strike been successful, continuation of service was evidence that they had another satellite up-link.

Dayan Jayatilleka, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, in response to criticism of the SLAF strike on VOT said, "The radio station concerned is neither an independent media organization nor located in an independent country. In short, it was neither legal nor legitimate. It was not, for instance Al Jazeera or the Serbian TV."

In a brief statement issued shortly after the LTTE made an attempt on the life of EPDP leader and Minister Douglas Devananda, Jayatilleka said, "The employment of civilians in that facility, if indeed there were any, was a choice made by the LTTE." He reminded the International Federation of Journalists and Reporters Sans Frontiers that the attacked facility was a propaganda organ of an organization designated terrorist by many countries.