The LTTE leader Prabhakaran contested the terrorist designation of his organisation , asserting that the international community had been influenced by the " false propaganda " of the Sri Lankan state and said that there was no coherent definition of the concept of terrorism . He also maintained that the LTTE was a national liberation organisation fighting against " state terrorism " and " racist oppression " . Following 9/11 , in an effort to distance his organisation from the " real terrorists " , the LTTE leader expressed sympathy to the Western powers engaged in a war against international terrorism and urged them to provide " a clear and comprehensive definition of the concept of terrorism that would distinguish between freedom struggles based on the right to self-determination and blind terrorist acts based on fanaticism . " He also expressed concern over states with human rights abuses like Sri Lanka joining the alliance in the war against terrorism as " posing a threat to the legitimate political struggles of the oppressed humanity subjected to state terror . " Karen Parker , an attorney specialising in human rights and humanitarian law , argued that the LTTE was not a terrorist organisation but " an armed force in a war against the government of Sri Lanka . " She characterised the war waged by the LTTE as " a war of national liberation in the exercise of the right of self-determination . " The LTTE in the process of waging this war of liberation massacred hundreds of innocent civilians , and regularly utilised child soldiers
9/11
September 11 attacks
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam