The recent destruction of an LTTE deep sea going vessel by the Sri Lankan security forces has focused the attention of the international security community towards Sri Lanka. Although, it has been known the LTTE had ships since 1987, its capabilities as a transnational terrorist group has since come to the attention of Interpol and other international security and intelligence organisations.
Two questions have dominated the discussion these organisations have been having with the government. First, what is the spill over effect of the Sri Lankan insurgency? Can it influence other groups and in what way? Second, if the LTTE ceases to be a political force, can it become a major international criminal organisation like the Mafia or the Triads. Both these concerns and fears stem from the transnational character of the LTTE that has grown rapidly in the 1990s.
The LTTE's international strength lies in its ability to disseminate propaganda and generate funds from the 400,000 strong expatriate Tamil community. This community has been politicized by almost all the Tamil groups including the TULF but its real benefit is being reaped only by the LTTE. Through some 30 odd offices from Britain to France, Canada and Australia, the LTTE is active, raising funds for the war effort. While doing so, the LTTE has established links with government and private organisations, ranging from human rights groups to NGOs working on development. The LTTE has also established links with terrorist groups within and outside South Asia. The LTTE has developed close ties of cooperation in the exchange of resources and arrangements in intelligence sharing with several anti-Indian groups including the Assamese ULFA, the Sikh separatists, the Kashmiri Mujahidin, as well as the Myanmar Nagas and the Afghan veterans. There is recent information to suggest that the hand held shoulder fired surface to air missiles which the LTTE used to down Sri Lankan aircraft was purchased from the Afghan Mujahidin. The Afghan Mujahidin had obtained them during the multinational semi covert anti-Soviet campaign in the 1980s.
It is interesting to note that except the PLO, the Tamil Tigers are the only terrorist group that owns and operates a fleet of deep sea going vessels. They are well equipped with sophisticated radar and communication. The deceptive shipping operations, indigenously developed, avoids detection and surveillance. Yahata transporting weapons and explosives changed its name to Ahat by painting off the first and the last letters of the ship's name upon nearing the landing zone.
The Tamil Tigers also established a naval base in Twante, an island off Myanmar. The LTTE link with Myanmar is bothering the US drug enforcement authorities because Myanmar produces 80% of the heroin found in the US. For generating revenue, the ships also transport fertilizer, timber, flour, sugar, cement and other commercial goods. According to recent reports, the LTTE has broken into narcotics trafficking in a big way. In addition to military arsenal, the ships also transport narcotics from Myanmar or Europe. To save high registration costs, the ships are registered in the flag giver countries of Panama. Honduras and Liberia, affectionately known as 'Pan-ho-lib".
Although Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar has been praised as the ideal Foreign Minister both by the government and anti-government elements, the Foreign Ministry staff has come under criticism. The counter propaganda effort of the government to keep the LTTE from spreading its tentacles further has failed. At another level, the international security threat posed by the LTTE has escaped the attention of almost all the government who are concerned primarily with their domestic securities.
The strengthening of the Tiger international infrastructure calls for new international security arrangements. The LTTE is known to have assassinated opponents not only in India, but also in France, Germany, the UK and Canada. Can the LTTE be contracted by other organisations for money? These are questions that are coming to the forefront. The LTTE has also invested in the money market, real estate including restaurants in Europe and Asia. Trading in gold, money laundering, and traffic in narcotics bring it substantial revenue. The LTTE has also played a role in providing passports, other papers and engage in human smuggling, suicide bombers, trained to fly microlights (light aircraft that does not have sufficient metal for radar detection) in Europe are posing an invincible threat. The Tiger strategy would be to use the explosive laden microlights to strike military, political and economic targets.
The LTTE is also proven masters in the use of dual technologies - internet for secure communication and the worldwide web for propaganda, night vision glasses for observation and the global positioning systems for precise strikes, are only some of them. The general consensus is that the Tamil Tigers retain the ability to survive and thrive as a transnational terrorist group in the event of a domestic defeat.