"If you make a contribution in this country to the TRO, you can be 100% sure that the money goes elsewhere," he told the US audience adding that they end up "giving money to carry out acts of terrorism, to commit murder and mayhem in a country like Sri Lanka".

" And while we are trying to bring the conflict to an end, people in this country, in most cases, unwittingly, pour oil onto a raging fire in Sri Lanka - which is unfortunate", he added.