COLOMBO — The reclusive leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels made a rare public appearance, ending speculation about his fate after the tsunami disaster struck Sri Lanka, a report on a pro-rebel website said Tuesday.

The TamilNet carried pictures of Vellupillai Prabhakaran wearing his Tiger military uniform and meeting relief officials in the rebel capital of Kilinochchi.

He met "disaster management planners who are currently participating in relief and reconstruction planning, and praised them for their services to the people,'' TamilNet said.

"The challenge before us is to bring our community back to normalcy and to ensure that all necessary effort is taken to comfort them from the shock,'' Prabhakaran was quoted as saying.

Prabhakaran is believed to have a home in Mullaitivu, a city that was devastated in the Dec. 26 disaster. Speculation about his fate started after a Sri Lankan military officer was quoted as saying by state radio that Prabhakaran was "among the dead or reported missing'' in Mullaitivu.

Prabhakaran led the Tamil Tigers in a two decade-long civil war demanding a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils. The conflict killed 65,000 people before a February 2002 ceasefire.