LTTE suicide and Air Tiger squad are led by two London residents, EIR reveals
[17 Apr 2000]

The January 21 issue of the US-based publication, the Executive Intelligence Review (EIR), appealing to the US Secretary of State to list Britain among states sponsoring terrorism across the world also revealed that the LTTE’s suicide squad, and also the Air Tiger squad, are led by two London residents, Pampan Ajith and Dr Maheswaran, respectively. 

EIR points out that at least 10 countries have asked UK to take action against or deport terrorists, but to no avail, since UK has always held that nothing can be done until they break a UK law. According to the publication the British have stated that it cannot be proved that fund-raising is directly aiding terrorist acts abroad. 

However, EIR points out that Britain harbours a multitude of international terrorist organisations, including those banned by the US. Six of the groups banned by the US, such as the LTTE, the Hamas and the Kurdish Workers’ Party, have their headquarters in London. 

The EIR further says that 16 other groups in the State Department's list either receive funding or get military training in the UK and among these is the Kashmir group, Harkat-ul-Ansar.

Meanwhile, the Labour Government in the UK is in the process of making it unlawful to sponsor or support terrorism whether inside or outside the country and the bill is currently in the House of Lords. 

The EIR also referred to Ahmad Omar Sheikh, a Kashmiri terrorist who was freed in December, 1999, following a swap to end the hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu, who wanted to be repatriated to UK. The British Government had taken him back because he was a British national and also because he was not facing any charges in the UK.

The EIR points out that this was despite the fact that Sheikh was convicted in India in November, 1998, for participating in the kidnapping of four UK nationals and one American in 1995. 

The publication also states that it is the LTTE's headquarters in London, which gives the “marching orders” for terrorist operations in the Indian sub-continent. The LTTE has conducted a “decade-long terror campaign” leading to the death of 130,000 people, including former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President Premadasa, it said.

However, the Daily Telegraph on November 20,1999 have admitted that the UK was home to a bewildering variety of Islamic terrorists. Lord Avebury had even justified this providing of shelter to militant groups by saying that they were working against “tyrannical regimes” and were in a sense “aiding UK policy.” 

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