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According
to a report by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Tamil notorious
street gangs operating in Toronto and Montreal are funneling funds to the
LTTE for extremist purposes in Sri Lanka. The
Foreign Ministry issuing a press release stated that the report clearly
reveals that a large number of LTTE members have a presence in Canada and
that they rely on Tamil gangs for fund-raising and intimidation. In some
cases, key LTTE figures are active gang members. The Mounties implicate
these Tamil criminal groups in a staggering variety of activities,
including extortion, home invasion, attempted murder, theft, the import
and sale of brown heroin, arms trafficking, production and sale of
counterfeit passports, migrant smuggling, bank and casino fraud and money
laundering. The RCMP
assessment is the latest in a string of recent reports published by
Canada's intelligence community which points to Canada as a key source of
funds for the LTTE's war chest. "There
is clear evidence to support the relationship and show that the money
involved is being funneled to the LTTE for extremist purposes in Sri
Lanka," the ministry report said. Earlier
this month, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in a report
alleged that some Canadian politicians often turned a blind-eye on LTTE
fund raising in their constituencies for domestic political reasons. The
report, prepared for CSIS by Australian terrorism expert Peter Chalk says
that the politicians' interest was with the strength of the ethnic Tamil
votes and hence were willing to tolerate LTTE extremists in their
constituencies. "Politicians
have become increasingly reluctant to support tougher actions against the
LTTE for fear that this would impinge on their local electoral support
base," it says. The
report also warns that Canada and other Western nations, by appeasing
groups such as the LTTE, "are helping to undermine not only the
viability of their own borders, but also the integrity of the global
system that they claim to represent". CSIS,
Canada's national intelligence agency, has identified the World Tamil
Movement (WTM), the Federation of Associations of Canadian Tamils (FACT)
and the Tamil Eelam Society of Canada as key front organizations of the
LTTE raising funds for the group in Canada. In
February this year, Canada became a signatory to the UN sponsored
International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of
Terrorism, vowing to track down on organizations who raise funds on
Canadian soil for or on behalf of terrorist organizations. Government
sources stated that it was time identify the Tamil front organizations in
the western world who with the sympathy have started to flourish in their
expansion of fund raising activities through illicit trade and criminal
activities. It is
very evident that they are enjoying what they have created for themselves.
Since the solution for the war is in the hands of them and not in the
hands of the Tamil civilians who are suffering because of the war, it is
no wonder why the LTTE back off from any peaceful negotiations, they
stated.
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