The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil: தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், ISO 15919: tamiḻ īḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ; commonly known as the LTTE or the Tamil Tigers) was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil People. This campaign evolved into the Sri Lankan Civil War, which ran from 1983 until 2009, when the LTTE was defeated by the Sri Lankan Military.

At the height of their power, the Tigers possessed a well-developed militia and carried out many high-profile attacks, including the assassinations of several high-ranking Sri Lankan and Indian politicians. LTTE is the only separatist militant organization to assassinate two world leaders, Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993 and former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. Civilian massacres, suicide bombings and acts of ethnic cleansing were integral parts of its pursuit to create a monoethnic Tamil Eelam. The Tigers pioneered the use of suicide belts, and used light aircraft in some of their attacks. As a result of their tactics, they are currently proscribed as a terrorist organization by 32 countries (see list of countries), but have extensive support amongst the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in Europe and North America, and amongst some Tamils in India. However, Human Rights Organizations such as UTHR (Jaffna) alleges that Tamil Tigers have killed at least 8000 fellow Tamils considered to be traitors to their cause. LTTE founder Velupillai Prabhakaran headed the organization from its inception until his death in 2009.

Thiruvenkadam Velupillai Prabhakaran (Tamil: வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன்,{ தமிழ் தேசிய தலைவர் },(November 26, 1954 – May 18, 2009) was the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the LTTE or the Tamil Tigers), a militant organization that sought to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka. For over 25 years, the LTTE waged a violent secessionist campaign in Sri Lanka that led to it being designated a terrorist organization by 32 countries. Prabhakaran was wanted by Interpol for terrorism, murder, organized crime and terrorism conspiracy. He also had arrest warrants against him in Sri Lanka and India.

Founded in 1976, the LTTE rocketed to prominence in 1983 after they ambushed a Sri Lanka Army convoy outside Jaffna, resulting in the deaths of 13 soldiers. This ambush, along with the subsequent rioting which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Tamil civilians, is generally considered the start of the Sri Lankan Civil War. After years of fighting, including the unsuccessful intervention of the Indian Army, the conflict was halted after international mediation in 2001. By then, the Tamil Tigers controlled large swaths of land in the north and east of the country, running virtually a mini-state with Prabhakran serving as its unquestioned leader. Peace talks eventually broke down, and the Sri Lanka Army launched a military campaign to defeat the Tamil Tigers in 2006. Prabhakaran was killed in fighting with the Army on May 18, 2009. His death brought an immediate end to the Civil War.

Jeyaraj Fernandopulle (Sinhala: ජෙයරාජ් ප්‍රනාන්දුපුල්ලේ, Tamil: ஜெயராஜ் பெர்னான்டோபுள்ளே, January 11, 1953 – April 6, 2008) was a Sri Lankan politician who served as a cabinet Minister and a Member of Parliament in Sri Lanka. He was a Roman Catholic and hailed from a minority ethnic group Colombo Chetties.

Fernandopulle was born on the January 11, 1953 in Walihena, Kochchikade (about 12 km north of Negombo).

He has done the preliminary education (up to grade 1) at Ave Maria Convent, Negombo, then entered Maris Stella College, Negombo for primary and secondary education. In 1972 Fernandopulle became a teacher after leaving the school, but left teaching to become a lawyer in 1974. He passed out from the Sri Lanka Law College in 1977 as an Attorney-at-law. One of his contemporaries at the Law College was President Mahinda Rajapakse who was a MP at that time. Since December 1977 he started practicing as a lawyer mainly in the Magistrates Court and High Court of Negombo and in other criminal courts island wide.