CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

SRI LANKAN FM TELLS IN BRUSSELS THAT LTTE IS LINKED WITH OTHER LEADING TERRORIST GROUPS IN THE WORLD

By Walter Jayawardhana

The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said in Brussels that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is connected with other leading terrorist organizations in the world including Al Queda by providing their expertise in explosives.

“The LTTE with its global network of offices, operatives and vessels ... could offer its services as mercenaries to other groups,”warned Bogollagama addressing the Royal Institution for International Relations in Brussels.

The United Liberation Front of Assam(ULFA), the Afghan Mujihideen, the Kurdish PKK, the Maoists Abu Sayyaf, the Mindanao National Liberation Front (MNLF) are the other terrorist groups linked with his country’s LTTE apart from Al Qaeda.

He said these long maintained terrorist relations with the LTTE group came to be known only after the new knowledge gained after 9/11 attacks.

He charged that the LTTE not only introduced suicide terrorism globally but also popularized it. He said their expertise in explosives were utilized in training other terrorist organizations in the world. He said according to some defense analysts their links were even extended to Colombian drug cartels.

Foreign Minister Bogollagama noted the action taken by other countries as the USA, UK, India, EU by listing the LTTE as a terrorist organization. He mentioned that many countries including the USA, Germany, France, UK, Norway, Canada , Singapore, Thailand, Kenya and India are in the process of carrying out operations to arrest key LTTE operatives in their countries .

The Minister quoted a recent article in the prestigious Jane's Intelligence Review which stated : "The Tamil Tigers generate an estimated USD200 to 300 million per year" and " after accounting for its estimated USD 8 million per year of costs within LTTE – administered Sri Lanka the profit margin of its operating budget would likely be the envy of any multinational corporation ". Jane's Intelligence Review had also stated, he said, that : " if the Western law enforcement crackdown on LTTE financial and procurement continues, the group's ability to fight may be weakened in the medium term , degrading its ability to withstand the Sri Lankan Government's offensives and further undermining its combat capabilities...which may lead to increased pressure to sue for peace ...".

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