Few dispute he was one of the most effective guerrilla leaders in modern warfare - displaying the tactical prowess of Afghanistan's Ahmad Shah Masoud, the ruthlessness of Osama bin Laden and the conviction of Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara.

In three decades of savage ethnic conflict aimed at carving out a separate Tamil homeland in the north and east, Prabhakaran managed to consolidate a de facto state and - until now - outsmart successive government offensives.

He terrorised the island and even neighbouring powerhouse India, perfecting the recruitment and use of suicide bomber units before Al-Qaeda existed.

His fighters usually took no prisoners, and were notorious for assaults that often left every single enemy soldier dead.

He was held responsible for ordering the 1991 assassination of former Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi, who in 1987 sent Indian troops to disarm the Tamil Tigers but ended up withdrawing his troops after years of jungle combat.

Prabhakaran's killing apparatus also claimed the lives of Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993, foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in 2005 and countless mayors, police officials and army officers.

Interpol described him as a wanted terrorist with a 'stout build' who was 'very alert, known to use disguise and capable of handling sophisticated weaponry and explosives'.

Prabhakaran's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had their own army, navy and air force, built up by an illicit international fundraising network and the use of sanctions-busting smugglers on ships and speedboats.

'His dedication to the cause of the Tamil Eelam (state) was unquestionable,' recalled former Tamil guerrilla Dharmalingam Sithadthan, now a politician. He was the only man in Sri Lanka who could decide if there should be war or peace.' -- AFP

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