BOGOLLAGAMA TELLS US ATTORNEY GENERAL
THAT THE ABILITY OF TAMIL TIGERS TO RAISE FUNDS FOR BOGUS CHARITIES IS HAMPERING PEACE PROCESS

By Walter Jayawardhana

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told the US Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales that the capability of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the United States to raise funds in the guise of collecting for bogus charities is hampering Sri Lanka’s peace process.

Raising the point about a recent California US District court verdict, the minister said it is helping the terrorist group through its front organizations to collect money purportedly for charitable purposes. But the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister said the money finally ends up in terrorist coffers to procure weapons. He pointed out the more weapons they receive lead to more refusals on their part to sit down at a negotiating table for a political solution.

The Minister was referring to a US District Court verdict in California of Judge Audrey B. Collins that declared terrorist groups like the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam could raise funds “for lawful non-violent activities”

Department of Justice sources said there is a similar concern about the verdict on their part and the verdict will be appealed against by the Department of Justice at an appropriate time.

Writing a strongly worded editorial the Washington Times newspaper in December 2006 said, “it would be terribly wrong headed to think that charity for terrorists is permissible if the purported intention is humanitarian.”

The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, whose country is greatly affected by the verdict since it enhanced the power of the insurgent group to procure more and more weapons for a war said all avenues open for them to collect money purportedly for charity by such LTTE front organizations like the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) should be blocked for peace to be sustained in Sri Lanka.

Attacking the judgement the Washington Times said in December, "Three weeks ago, a California district court judge gutted a large part of President Bush's ability to criminalize financial assistance to terrorist groups, declaring a 2001 executive order allowing the president to designate "specially designated global terrorists" to be "unconstitutionally vague" and overreaching.”

The editorial further said, “"It would be terribly wrong-headed to let people think that charity for terrorists is permissible if the stated intention is humanitarian. Money is money and can be used for any purpose which a murky and non-transparent terrorist group decides. “

The Sri Lankan delegation consisted of Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona, Sri Lankan Ambassador in Washington Bernard Goonetilleke and others.
In a statement issued after the meeting the with Attorney General Gonzales at the Justice Department and Steve Hadley , National Security Advisor at the White House , on the second day of the visit on March 15, an official statement of the embassy said, “While expressing Sri Lanka’s appreciation for the proscription of the LTTE in the U.S. since 1997, as well as the recent arrests and prosecution of LTTE agents in New York and Maryland, the Minister noted that it is a matter of deep concern to Sri Lanka that the LTTE continues to function in many western countries including the U.S. through numerous front organisations involved in cultural, religious, economic and rehabilitation activities.

He particularly noted that Sri Lanka had taken action to freeze the accounts of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) which while purporting to be a charitable body, has been the LTTE’s primary fundraising arm in the U.S. He said the Sri Lanka Government had observed substantial irregularities in the remittances received by TRO ( Sri Lanka ), when compared with its collections overseas, particularly in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

“The Minister said, along with the denial of access to weapons, curbing fundraising abroad is the key action the international community could take to force terrorists groups to give up terrorism and come to the negotiating table. The U.S. administration taking such action at the present juncture, when Sri Lanka is showing a genuine commitment to evolve consensus in the south to find a lasting settlement to the conflict, will send a clear message to the Tamil diaspora in this country that supporting terror through whatever means will not be condoned.

“This afternoon the Foreign Minister briefed the Sri Lanka Congressional Caucus at the Capitol Hill on current developments in Sri Lanka , specifically the government’s peace initiative with broad-based political consensus in the south for a sustainable peace. The Minister pointed out that for these positive political developments to take effect, Sri Lanka needs greater support from the US and the international community to ensure that the LTTE becomes a stakeholder in the peace process. The Minister said that this needs concerted effort by the international community to prevent fund raising.”