News
EU bans Tigers again
View(s):The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has once again been placed in the European List of terror groups.
The decision was made unanimously by the 28-member European Union Council, the highest policy making body. The decision was based on the results of the review the Council has carried out.
The LTTE is among 23 groups and entities and the persons that have been included as part of regulations on “restrictive measures directed against certain person and entities with a view to combatting terrorism.”
The EU first imposed the ban on the LTTE in 2006. This decision was challenged by the Group and in October, 2014, the European General Court ordered the delisting of the LTTE. However the European Council appealed against the decision in December last year and the appeal process is continuing.
Despite the pending appeal, the EU has decided to keep the LTTE on the list of terror groups.
Foreign Ministry officials welcomed the decision and said intense dialogue carried out by the Foreign Ministry in several capitals including New Delhi, Brussels, London and Washington had paid off.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, when he was the Leader of the Opposition, had called on the EU to take action to keep the LTTE on the EU terror list after the Court ruling to delist it.