The following is a list of notable people assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, commonly known as Tamil Tigers or as LTTE. The LTTE is a now-defunct militant organisation that was based in northern Sri Lanka, which fought for a separate Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka between 1983 and 2009. The LTTE was decisively defeated by the Sri Lankan Military in May 2009 and it has been banned by 33 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and the 27 member nations of the European Union. At the height of its power, the LTTE possessed a well-developed militia and carried out many high-profile attacks, including the assassinations of an Indian prime minister, Sri Lankan president and several other high-ranking Sri Lankan politicians. Some of the notable people who survived the assassination attempts of LTTE, are also included at the bottom of this list. Heads of state and government Ranasinghe Premadasa - Former President of Sri Lanka Rajiv Gandhi - Former Prime Minister of India Government ministers Lalith Athulathmudali - Former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Trade, National Security, Agriculture, Education and deputy minister of defence. Gamini Dissanayake - Former United National Party presidential candidate and Leader of the Opposition, Former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Irrigation, Power, Highways, Land, Land Development, Plantation Industries, Mahaweli and Mahaweli Development & Former chairman of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board Ranjan Wijeratne - Former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Foreign Affairs, Plantation Industries and Minister of State for Defense Lakshman Kadirgamar Former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, Prominent Tamil diplomat, politician and lawyer. Jeyaraj Fernandopulle - Former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Highways & Road Development, the chief government whip of the parliament of Sri Lanka C. V. Gunaratne - Former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Industries Development. Weerasinghe Mallimarachchi - Former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Food, Co-operative, and Janasaviya-Poverty Alleviation G. M. Premachandra - Former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Labour and Vocational Training D. M. Dassanayake - Former Sri Lankan non-cabinet Minister of Nation Building Members of Sri Lankan parliament Ossie Abeygunasekera - Former Chairman and Leader of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya, Former candidate of the Presidential election in 1989 A. Amirthalingam - Leading Sri Lankan Tamil politician and former Leader of the Opposition. A. Thangathurai- Former Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) Member