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Govt.
wants TRO banned in US The alarm bells about TRO operations were rung at the highest level during meetings Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera had with State Department officials in Washington over the past few days. TRO
is listed as a ‘charity,’ but also functions as the
LTTE's main aid arm. The TRO operates in over a dozen other countries, including Britain, Canada and Australia, where the LTTE is banned or there are restrictions on fund raising for the group. The TRO raised millions of dollars in donations for tsunami relief and rehabilitation efforts in the north and east, with special focus on areas controlled by the LTTE. But doubts have been cast if all the millions of dollars were indeed channelled for much-needed tsunami recovery. The organization began operations in 1985 and its headquarters is now based in the rebel capital of Kilinochchi. A special team of officials were included in Mr. Samaraweera's delegation to Washington to take up this issue with state authorities. The background of the TRO, its operations and links to the LTTE were presented at several forums. TRO operations were also taken up at the functional level with US legal and justice departments. Colombo had prepared a dossier with details of activities of the TRO with the help of local intelligence officials and diplomats. Among them was documentation to indicate that some of the funds channelled to TRO had ended up in Ukraine, a nation from where the LTTE purchases some of its weaponry. Details were also provided about how much money the TRO claimed to have channelled to Sri Lanka and how much actually ended up in the island, the officials said. The details were handed over to State Department officials and discussed extensively during talks between the Lankan delegation and Stuart Levey, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes of the US Department of Treasury on Thursday. The issue was also taken up with Frank Urbancic, deputy coordinator for Counter-Terrorism, Department of State the same day, which was followed by Mr. Samaraweera having a two-hour meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The deteriorating security situation in Sri Lanka was also discussed with Ms. Rice. Mr. Samaraweera had assured the US of President Mahinda Rajapakse's commitment to a negotiated settlement, efforts to lessen rising tensions with the LTTE and efforts to build a southern consensus. There was concern among State Department officials about Mr. Rajapakse's perceived hawkish administration and its path toward peace, especially in the light of how much influence hardline nationalist parties like the JVP and JHU can have on policy. According to Washington sources, several American officials who were present in Sri Lanka during the two JVP insurrections are now holding high office in the State Department, and were eager to ascertain the direction Sri Lanka's new leader hoped to take. The Lankan delegation also held an hour long meeting with Eric S. Edelman, Under Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon. Mr. Samaraweera also met with Assistant Secretary for South Asia Christina Rocca. Although the TRO did execute some valuable work in Sri Lanka's north and east, there were doubts cast if all the money raised, was indeed utilized for tsunami recovery or channelled elsewhere. In November last year, almost a year after the deadly tsunami struck Sri Lankan shores, a TRO branch office in Melbourne, Australia, was raided and investigated over allegations that it was funding terrorism propagated by the LTTE. After the probe, the allegations were referred to the federal police. Another fundraising group, the Tamils Co-ordinating Committee, believed to be linked to the TRO, was also raided. The amount of money collected by Australia's Tamil Sri Lankan community, many of whom support the LTTE's cause, increased markedly following the tsunami. Federal police were examining evidence seized in the raids to see if any donations collected were channelled into terrorism. The TRO's executive director, Melbourne Rajan Rasiah, said at the time, that $1.1 million raised by the TRO in the wake of the tsunami was distributed in northern Sri Lanka with the ‘permission, approval and support’ of the Tamil Tigers. The raids were conducted despite the fact that the LTTE is not a proscribed terrorist organization under the criminal code. However, because a United Nations charter lists the Tigers as a terrorist group, Australian authorities can act to prohibit an organization dealing with funds that are declared by the UN to be ‘freezable assets’. In an interview with the Washington Times, Mr. Samaraweera said he had urged the US to shut down front groups and charities as well as take measures against Tamil exiles financing the Tigers. Referring to the LTTE as the ‘godfather of modern terrorism’ Mr. Samaraweera said, "The United States must realise that it is not dealing with a liberation movement but a ruthless killing machine more dangerous than al-Qaeda." Colombo wants Washington to clamp down on financing of the LTTE, a move it hopes would be followed by Europe. "Tea and sympathy are no longer enough," Mr. Samaraweera was quoted as saying. TRO currently operates offices in Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Malaysia, Canada and New Zealand. The tough moves by the Government comes amid escalating violence by the rebels against the armed forces, with fears of full-scale war breaking out sooner rather than later. |
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