|
THOUGH CANADIAN SYMPATHIZERS GAVE MILLIONS
TO TAMIL TIGERS THEY DID NOT GIVE TO THE HEART’S CONTENT OF SEA
TIGER BOSS SOOSAI, CANADIAN DOCUMENTS SHOW
By Walter Jayawardhana
True, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) violence in Sri Lanka
was bankrolled by Canadian sympathizers. But despite the millions they
gave they did not give to the heart’s content of Sea Tiger boss
Soosai.
According to documents released by the Canadian Federal government
officials Soosai once told three Canadian Tigers, Mrs. Shakila, Mr.
Xavier and Mr. Kathirvelupillai Sithamparanathan, President of the Montreal
chapter of the World Tamil Movement, that there were "insufficient
activities of the branches in Canada and England," but he was expecting,
“a huge sum of money” and “most of the promises made
by foreign supporters” “ended up as fiction.”
Stewart Bell filed the following report in the National Post newspaper
from Toronto on this interesting topic:
“ Federal officials released more documents yesterday that were
seized during a massive RCMP investigation into Tamil Tigers fundraising
in Canada, including a guerrilla leader's request for "a huge sum"
of money.
“The police files, unsealed by the Federal Court, are the latest
evidence that Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers rebels have been bankrolling
their civil war with money raised by supporters in Canada. But the newly
disclosed documents also suggest the Tamil Tigers may not be getting
as much from Canada as they would like: In one communique, a senior
rebel boss complained that Canadians were not doing enough to support
the fight.
“Colonel Soosai, who commands the rebel navy wing known as the
Sea Tigers, told three Canadian Tamil activists he was frustrated about
the "insufficient activities of the branches in Canada and England,"
according to a 12-page report. He said he was "expecting a huge
sum" of money and that Tamil activists should "act accordingly,"
says the document, written by the Tamil Tigers International Coordination
Centre but seized by RCMP counter-terrorism officers in Toronto. The
document is an account of a meeting that took place in a rebel-held
region of northern Sri Lanka in 2004. Several senior guerrillas addressed
the visiting delegation, including Col. Soosai, who complained that
"most of the promises" made by foreign supporters "ended
up as fictions."
“The report concludes that the foreign visitors in attendance
"accepted their guiltiness … Accordingly, they promised to
commit completely in 2004, in order to raised funds for the Sea Tigers."
“Twenty-two "foreign activists" attended the meeting.
Three of them were Canadians. They are identified in the report only
as Mrs. Shakila, Mr. Xavier and Mr. Sithamparanathan. Police allege
the latter name refers to Kathiravelupillai Sithamparanathan, president
of the Montreal chapter of the World Tamil Movement.
“The Tamil Tiger guerrillas have been fighting for more than two
decades for independence for Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamil minority, which
the rebels say has suffered discrimination and state terror-ism at the
hands of the island's Sinhalese majority. Formerly known as Ceylon,
Sri Lanka is a small island nation off the southern tip of India but
the conflict echoes in Canada because Toronto is home to one of the
world's largest Sri Lankan Tamil populations. Ottawa outlawed the Tigers
in 2006, citing the rebels' use of such tactics as suicide bombings
and political assassinations.
“Yesterday, nine people died and 72 were injured when a parcel
bomb exploded on a crowded commuter train near the capital Colombo.
Police blamed the Tamil Tigers.
“The attack followed the deaths of 16 civilians last week, killed
when their van was struck by a mine that the Tigers say was detonated
by the Sri Lankan military. Human rights groups have been complaining
about the war's heavy toll on civilians.”
|
