TAMIL TIGER ARMS BUYER PRADEEPAN THAVARAJAH WILL BE EXTRADITED TO US TO BE TRIED FOR GUN RUNNING TO NEWYORK

By Walter Jayawardhana

The Indonesian police in Jakarta said that a leading gun runner of the Sri Lankan terrorist group Tamil Tigers will be extradited to the United States in few days on charges that he was allegedly smuggling arms for use in terrorist attacks in New York

The Indonesian police nabbed the fugitive at Soekarno-Hatta international Airport, January 4, when he was about to board a flight to Kulalaumpur , Malaysia the police said.

Pratheepan Thavarajah (32) the number three man of the international arms buyers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who are also known as the Tamil Tigers that has become the leading terrorist group in the world for suicide bombers was arrested on the request of the Interpol, the international police organization of all nations, Indonesian police spokesman Anton Bahrul Alam told reporters.

"He is in our custody,” said he “and we are investigating him for seven days before he is sent to the United States," He said until Monday the Indonesian police detectives will be extensively questioning him as to find out what he was doing all the time in Indonesia and with whom he was dealing.
Like his immediate boss in the LTTE, known as KP, Pradeepan Thevarajah is considered to be one of the leading gun runners in the world and when arrested was possessing passports of twelve different countries in the world, other police sources said.

The police spokesman said that there is no extradition treaty between the United States and Indonesia but the LTTE gun runner will be sent to the United States based on the cordial relations between the two nations.

The Indonesian Police was acting on a warrant issued by the Interpol in Washington DC. The warrant was issued August 20 last year.

According to the Indonesian police spokesman the Interpol warrant was issued for smuggling arms into the United States that could be used for terrorist activities in that country.

“If convicted,” the spokesman said, “Thavarajah could face a 15 year old jail term.” Thavarajah was being held in the Police Headquarters in Jakarta until January 8 and then will be sent to the United States he further said.

According to the Indonesian police the passports of varied nationalities he possessed indicated that he has frequented the United States, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Mayanmar and Afghanistan, for his business.

Thevaraja, born on November 7, 1974, is believed to be involved closely with the smuggling activities of another international fugitive Kumaran Pathmanathan, aka Selvarajah Pathmanathan,aka T.S. Kumaran, aka KP, LTTE's main arms buyer and smuggler, who is also wanted by the Interpol for a long time.

Diplomatic sources said the Indonesian intelligence services was on his trail for the past one year. Movement reports of the suspect had been shared by the Sri Lanka Embassy in Jakarta and the State Intelligence Service of Indonesia (BIN), the sources further revealed. They said Indonesian intelligence believed that Indonesian officers believe that Thevaraja had arrived in Indonesia to arrange an arms shipment to Sri Lanka. He would be subjected to further interrogation by the US Federal Police , the FBI.

Sri Lanka's Ambassador in Jakarta, Gen. Janaka Perera hailed the arrest as a significant breakthrough in countering the LTTE arms smuggling activities as a whole. He said, "I wish to thank the Indonesian Government and its state Intelligence Services."