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Sri Lanka: LTTE Comander Velupillai Prabhakaran posing with a machine gun somewhere in the Wanni, northern Sri Lanka, c.1985. Photo by LTTE (CC BY-SA 3.0 License)

Velupillai Prabhakaran (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. By 2001, the Tamil Tigers controlled large swaths of land in the north and east of the country, running a mini-state with Prabhakaran ruling 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.