Tamil Tiger chief comes out of hiding

The Tamil Tiger chief - one of Asia's most wanted men - has appeared at his first news conference in 15 years.

Velupillai Prabhakaran spoke at a secret location in northern Sri Lanka.

Prabhakaran called the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi a "tragic incident" and urged India to lift a ban on his organisation. He said: "The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam wants close ties with India."

He added: "It (was) a tragic incident that has happened 10 years ago. We are not in a position to make a comment now."

Prabhakaran was responding to Indian reporters who asked him about his conviction by an Indian court for the 1991 assassination of the former Indian Prime Minister.

Gandhi, the son of slain Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was killed in an explosion triggered by a female Tamil Tiger who greeted him while he was campaigning for elections in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Local and foreign journalists were taken to the site of the news conference after elaborate security measures.

They were not allowed to take their satellite phones or laptop computers to the news conference for security reasons, and could not report on it until after it was over.

Prabhakaran's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been fighting Sri Lankan forces for the last 18 years. The two sides signed a Norwegian-brokered ceasefire in February and are scheduled to hold peace talks next month in Thailand.