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Presently,
the LTTE is believed to be "petitioning" the overseas Tamil
diaspora in the UK, Canada and Australia to contribute up to US$1000 per
family in support of the group's military campaign to win control of the
crucial northern reaches of Highway A9, revealed a Canadian Security
Intelligence publication. These
global financial operations has been the major reason for LTTE's firepower
against the security forces and its capture of Elephant Pass. The
Tiger's steady flow of fire power was originated in India, where they
obtained their weapons before their sources dried up, forcing them to seek
other locations for their unbroken supply of armaments. "Through
existing toes with the military regime in Burma, a permanent Tiger naval
base was established on the Burmese island of Twante," according to
the Lloyd's List published by the Lloyd's Shipping Insurance Company in
London. After
being forced to vacate the Burmese base in January 1996 due to diplomatic
pressure on Ranggon from Colombo, the LTTE shifted their base to the
popular resort island of Phuket in Thailand, where they established a
permanent naval base. Referring
to the international fund raising network, the Canadian Security
Intelligence publication further states, "Definitive proof linking
the LTTE to an official policy of drug running has yet to materialize.
However, a number of analysts have pointed out that the LTTE is in a
particularly advantageous position to traffic narcotics thanks to the
highly efficient international network it has developed to smuggle
munitions around the world. Many of these arms routes pass either directly
through, or very close to, major drug producing and transit centres,
including Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, southern China, Afghanistan and
Pakistan". "The
LTTE international fundraising effort has additionally been used to mount
protracted and expensive legal defenses of the group and its members. This
was, perhaps, best reflected following the arrest in 1995 of Manikavasagam
Suresh, the LTTE representative in Canada. In response, the organization
initiated a mass mail-out campaign stating that the detention of Suresh
was politically motivated and represented a direct attack on the entire
Canadian Tamil population. In addition, it organised repeated
demonstrations urging that Suresh's trial be scrapped and hired two highly
paid lawyers to provide legal counsel under the overall; coordination of a
prominent New York-based attorney, Viswanathan Ruthirakumaran-the de facto
head of LTTE operations in the US. This huge effort ensured that the
Suresh trial was one of the most keenly contested in Canadian legal
history as far as reviews of security certificates were concerned,"
the report added.
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