Urging India to lift the 11-year old ban on LTTE, the 47-year old guerrilla leader, wanted by India in connection with the 1991 assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, described the killing as a "tragic incident" but evaded a question whether his organisation was responsible for it.
Balasingham translated that it was some thing that had happened 10 years ago and that those who asked questions about it were living in the past. He said the LTTE leader could not comment on the assassination as the clemency pleas of the four who were sentenced to death in the case were pending in court.
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Balasingham was irritated with Indian journalists, mainly from Tamil Nadu, who persisted with their close questioning on the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and related issues: "You want to dominate the press conference. You have come all the way to ask these questions. We are now involved in a peace process and you want to rake up the past," he snapped.
