Introduction
To the best of my understanding, this is the
first time such a wide-ranging international
group of experts have chosen to devote an
entire two days to discuss with EU member
states and other 3rd affected countries, the
ramifications of the activities of the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Sri
Lanka appreciates being invited to be part
of this process.
Co-sponsored by the US Government and the
French Presidency, that the Europol chose to
devote this seminar to the LTTE, underlines
the seriousness with which the law
enforcement and criminal justice communities
in these countries are watching developments
relating to the activities of the LTTE,
something that is heartening to note, for a
country like Sri Lanka which is bleeding,
due to long years of international apathy to
terrorism.
Today we speak in the back-drop of the
Mumbai terrorist outrage which world leaders
have closed ranks to denounce with one
voice, and has been widely described as
“India’s 9/11”. Coming from a country like
Sri Lanka, which has seen too many 9/11’s
occur within too short a time period, at the
outset I cannot but overemphasise three
truisms related to terrorism which this
august gathering and the states they
represent should remain conscious of;
- That terrorism is a global challenge and one
should not ignore the problem in the
misguided notion that it is somebody else’s
problem and would not affect you.
- That
terrorism comes in many shapes and forms and
we should not be deceived or engage in
semantic debates on either the
justifications offered by terrorist front
organizations and apologists/sympathisers,
which act for, on behalf of or at the behest
of terrorist organizations.
- That if we
are to succeed in defending our countries
and all countries from the terrorist menace,
we must necessarily have to stay ahead of
the terrorists – whether it be in
intelligence gathering, law enforcement,
criminal justice or information
dissemination.
Conscious that at least for some
participants here, this might be the first
foray into the complex developments in Sri
Lanka and to the role of the terrorist group
the LTTE, I have prepared a detailed text
that covers the trajectory of the issue
under discussion from a broader
politico-military perspective. I have also
had circulated a publication and also a set
of more recent clippings, which provide you
an update on the stark challenge Sri Lanka
faces.
My presentation to you today will focus not
only on the LTTE, but particularly the
dynamics of its numerous front
organizations, regarding which I
respectfully posit that the government of
Sri Lanka believes sufficient attention is
not being paid at present in Europe.
|
Contact Information: Send
mail to