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Media
Release: Friday, 09 February 2007
http://www.spur.asn.au/SLUNA_20070209_London_Times_Report_on_5_feb_2007.htm
LONDON TIMES REPORT OF FEB 5,2007 ON EXTORTION OF TAMIL DIASPORA BY THE LIBERATION TIGERS OF TAMIL EELAM (LTTE) FOR PROCUREMENT OF WEAPONS
Annexed hereto is a report filed by Tom Whipple of the London Times detailing the heightened level of extortion resorted to by the Tamil Tiger Terrorists seeking sums ranging from Pounds 1,000 to Pounds 50,000 from members of the diaspora residing in Britain, for the purchase of missiles, helicopters and other weapons to continue with their armed insurrection in Sri Lanka which has lasted over three decades. Non-payment of the sums demanded would result in personal harm as well as attacks on their relatives residing in Sri Lanka who will be dealt with by the armed thugs of the LTTE. These extortion activities are being freely carried out by the LTTE despite their being an outlawed organization in Britain since 2001.
It has been estimated that the armed insurrection launched by the Tamil Tiger Terrorists including the frequent use of trained suicide bombers called Black Tigers who have struck over 264 times mainly against civilian targets, has cost nearly 65,000 lives plus damage to billions of dollars of valuable property in Sri Lanka. The LTTE seeks almost 30 percent of the island's land area in the north, north central and eastern areas hugging the coastline taking up nearly 66 percent of the surrounding ocean and territorial waters, to establish a mono-ethnic racist Tamil separate state for Tamils numbering less than 4.0 percent of the nation's population who reside in the region. A larger percentage of Sri Lankan Tamils who in total make up around 8.5 percent of the island's population now live outside this region sought for their separate state, as they wish to distance themselves from the self declared sole representatives of the Tamil community, the LTTE, which is responsible for killing large numbers of their own community to eliminate any and all opposing views.
Sri Lanka has made as much as six attempts to reach a negotiated peace accord with the LTTE by entering into direct talks, and using international mediators and facilitators from India and Norway respectively, but have failed to get anywhere as the LTTE attends peace talks to merely buy time to re-group and re-arm themselves to re-commence hostilities in pursuit of their goal of a separate state. They have remained intransigent seeking their goal of dismembering Sri Lanka on ethnic lines that would only lead to greater chaos, and have never been amenable to negotiate anything less for the past 20 years. No country, no government, would be willing to part with 30 percent of the land and 66 percent of her territorial waters for a small minority of people amounting to less than 4.0 percent of the population, for creation of a militaristic ethnic state in a large part of her land plus the added problem of policing a long winding hostile border that would become the dividing line.
The international community continues to ask Sri Lanka to talk to these terrorists with no progress whatsoever from such negotiations even though 20 years have gone by since the Indian mediation in the mid-1980's. Sri Lanka has always been prepared to talk but not agree to solutions that would result in the division of the country, nor one that harms the safety and security of all the communities including the Tamil minority community that has lost faith in the LTTE. The LTTE reneged on the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 mediated by Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India, who too became a victim of a LTTE suicide bomber who travelled to India to carry out this dastardly act. Should Sri Lanka wait for the day the Tiger changes his stripes hoping to arrive at a fresh peace deal, and continue to bleed and suffer, even though the international community which advocates negotiations with terrorists have adopted a solely military approach of eliminating terrorists everywhere.
Britain and other western countries where the LTTE has established a network for fundraising and procurement of weapons should do more to dismantle their operations to safeguard ordinary Tamils who have migrated to their midst, and also meet their obligations in terms of the UN Convention on the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism of which they are signatories.
Yours very truly,
Mahinda Gunasekera
Honorary President
Sri Lanka United Association of Canada (SLUNA)
Box
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http://www.spur.asn.au/SLUNA_20070209_London_Times_Report_on_5_feb_2007.htm
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