CIA’S FORMER HEAD OF THE AL-QUEDA UNIT SAYS TAMIL TIGERS PROVIDE ANOTHER CHANNEL FOR THE 9/11 TERRORISTS TO ENTER US AND ATTACK

By Walter Jayawardhana

Mike Scheuer, former head of the Al Queda Unit of the CIA and the present terrorism analyst of the CBS TV said the Sri Lankan terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE) stealing European passports and supplying them to Al Queda terrorist group provides another channel for the 9/11 attackers to enter United States for an assault.

Mike Sheuer was being interviewed by the J.J. Green, the National Security Correspondent of the WTOP Radio.

Alarmed by the stealing of the Norwegian passports and dropping bombs on the Sri Lankan Air Force base the WTOP was broadcasting many news stories and feature programs about the LTTE threat to the United States.

Sheuer in the interview said the working relationship between the LTTE and the Al Queda group could benefit both parties and the fake European passports from Scandinavian countries supplied by the Tamil Tigers could give another chance for the Al Queda to move freely in the United States and Europe and that could be problematic to the security of these regions.

The WTOP was following up the Daily News lead story written by this correspondent.
The WTOP calling the LTTE a most innovative terrorist group said it is having access to fake passports to Canada and Scandinavian countries and that makes it very dangerous to the United States.

The Daily News original story revealed that in the earlier bombing of the World Trade Center before the 9/11 attack the Al Queda bomber traveled to the United States with a fake passport provided by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

In a different program broadcast by the WTOP, National Security Correspondent J.J. Green on March 29 said, the Al Queda related terrorist group LTTE by bombing the Sri Lanka Air Force base “sent shockwaves through many in the international intelligence community, because it comes days after it was learned they have also stolen and distributed thousands of European passports to its members, possibly opening the door to U.S. entry.”

He said, the LTTE, which is carrying on a secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government is not Muslim but the number one reason the US should be concerned about this organization is that it is having a working arrangement with Al Qaeda. He further said, “They have a very clear working arrangement with al Qaida. Osama bin Laden has a policy on maintaining strange bedfellows to achieve AQ's goals. He believes that AQ should use the lesser evil to defeat the greater evil. They've employed this tactic many times in the past with the Russian Mafia, Chechen fighters, some of Saddam Hussein's fighters after he was deposed. The LTTE is another example of that methodology.”

“They've got their hands on Norwegian passports and European passport holders face significantly less hurdles when trying to enter the U.S. The LTTE is among the elite pioneers in terrorism, they're very crafty. The bombings in Sri Lanka suggest they have people who know how to fly.”
J.J. Green further said, “The LTTE has a long history of successfulsuicide attacks dating back to the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandi in 1991.

A part of the reason why they've been perceived as innovative is that a woman was actually the person who killed Ghandi and 18 other people, well before female suicide bombers were considered by others. They've also been able to pull off very successful suicide attacks at sea. That along with this latest endeavor to get ahold of light air planes and drop bombs on a Sri Lankan military base indicates they are able to pull a lot of strings and have deep pockets and are well connected to anti-establishment organizations.”

The following are some of the questions asked in the program and the answers given by J.J. Green: This group(LTTE) has been referred to as innovative terrorists, what does that mean? What safeguards are in place to prevent a group like this from getting into the U.S. and launching some kind of attack?

The U.S. aggressively patrols the entry of foreigners into the U.S. through immigration and customs checkpoints. Last year new passports issued by Visa Waiver Program countries have to be, from now on, e-Passports, which include an integrated computer chip capable of storing biographic information from the data page. It also contains other biometric information, such as the required digital photograph of the holder. Intelligence, law enforcement and security officials are aware of the passport theft and they know who some of the main players are to keep, and are keeping, an eye out for them.

It seems as though terror organizations in that part of the world are growing more and more dangerous for western countries. Why is that?

Quite simply, they've impressed al Qaida. AQ's goals revolve around destruction of the west. The LTTE and a number of other AQ linked organizations have grown in power and support in the last few years and the LTTE, for example has battled the government's military forces to a complete standstill and since they're not an organization that has to be on the run, but has an established base with many supporters, they are able to do more of what they want to do and AQ recognizes that and would like to use them as a vehicle to get at the U.S..