France was the first country and Sri Lanka the second to sign the United Nations Convention on the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism on Monday, Foreign Ministry statement revealed. The treaty was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9 and enters into force 30 days after it has been ratified by 22 countries. Other than France and Sri Lanka, the United States of America, Britain, Finland, Malta and the Netherlands are reported to have signed the treaty on the first day when it was opened for signature.

     The convention obliges States-parties to closely monitor the collection or receipt of money by organisations in support of terrorist activities in another country. It also requires the states-parties to freeze and prevent access to such funds by groups supporting terrorist organizations, and also to prosecute or extradite persons found guilty of involvement in such financial activities for terrorist organisations. It covers fund raising for terrorist purposes, which is done both directly as well as indirectly, through so-called 'charitable' fronts, the Daily News said.

     The treaty supplements 11 other existing anti-terrorism conventions covering such matters as bombings, hostage-taking and hijacking.

     According to the Foreign Ministry statement, the LTTE has a wide network of front organizations, which actively collect funds for its terrorist activities, often operating under the guise of charitable, welfare to cultural organisations in a number of countries.

     Further the Daily News said that according to a news article in the Canadian newspaper National Post of December 30, 1999 titled 'Canada to outlaw fund raising for world terrorism' spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, Michael O'Shaughnessy has said that Canada intended to sign and eventually ratify, the International Convention on the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. Also the report said that Canada, the largest Sri Lankan Tamil population outside Sri Lanka where many of whom are suspected to be sympathetic to the LTTE are said to be funding 8.4 million dollars a year to the LTTE annually.

     Barbara Crossette, in an article in the New York Times of December 28, 1999 tilted 'UN seeks to enact measure to cut off funds for terrorists' has stated that the treaty would help Sri Lanka immensely, where a violent Tamil separatist movement has been sustained almost entirely by money raised in ethnic Tamil communities in Canada, the United States, India and Southeast Asia.

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