hunger strike as they were being detained without charge. Kittu was released in October 1988 and deported back to Indian held Jaffna. He then travelled to the Vanni, leaving his girlfriend Cynthia in Jaffna. In 1989, when peace negotiations were being carried out between the LTTE and Sri Lankan government, Prabhakaran decided to send Kittu to London for treatment to his amputated leg. Kittu was flown from the Vanni to Colombo in a Sri Lankan military helicopter. He was taken to the British High Commission where he received a visa to travel to the UK. However, before leaving Sri Lanka, Kittu married Cynthia, who had travelled from Jaffna to Colombo, on 25 October 1989 at the hotel where the LTTE peace talk delegation were staying. Kittu then travelled to the UK, joined later by Cynthia. Whilst in the UK Kittu took charge of the LTTE's international secretariat in London. It's alleged that Kittu threatened and extorted money from the growing number of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in the UK. This led to numerous complaints being lodged with UK officials and eventually immigration officials started the process for deporting Kittu. Pre-empting this, Kittu travelled to Paris and then onto Switzerland where he applied for asylum. Next, he travelled to Sweden and then to Vienna where he received orders from Prabhakaran to return to the Vanni. Kittu then flew to Singapore. His movements thereafter remain unclear but it is believed he travelled to Thailand where he boarded the MV Yahata. Earlier, whilst in Karachi, the Yahata had been loaded with a huge cargo of weapons by the Pakistan Navy on the orders of the Inter-Services Intelligence. The Yahata left Phuket with the cargo of weapons and several LTTE cadres, including Kittu, on board. Whilst at sea the ship changed its name to MV Ahat. There are differing accounts of the events which then occurred. According to one account the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard intercepted the 400 tonne Ahat on 13 January 1993 south-east of Madras, sailing without navigation lights en route to Madras. According to second account an Indian Coast Guard Dornier aircraft, whilst on a routine surveillance flight between Point Calimere and Point Pedro, spotted the 280 tonne Ahat on 6 January 1993. The Indian Navy kept the ship under surveillance, noting that it was sailing suspiciously towards the Indian coast, frequently changing course. On 12 January 1993 the