Karunanidhi on reverese gear over Prabhakaran's friendship

Chennai, Apr 20 (PTI) DMK chief M Karunanidhi, whose remarks that he did not see LTTE leader V Prabhakaran as a terrorist created a flutter, today said the Tamil organisation started as a liberation group and later became an extremist outfit.
"LTTE was not started as an extremist organisation like the Naxalite movement. It was started as a liberation movement but later became an extremist organisation," he told reporters elaborating on his remarks on the LTTE which he made in an interview to a TV channel yesterday.

He said his interview was "misinterpreted" and "blown out of proportion". "I had given the interview for more than one hour and answered questions on various subjects. But only one sentence was picked up," he said.

On MDMK chief Vaiko's remarks that the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi had been forgotten by the people, Karunanidhi said the Sriperumpudur (where Gandhi fell to a LTTE suicide bomber) incident could never be forgotten by anyone in the country. The Rajiv Gandhi memorial there "will kindle the memories of the late leader," he said.

Asked for his remarks that he would be saddened if Prabhakaran was killed in the ongoing offensive by the Sri Lankan army, he said "everybody will regret it".