18.3.2008
A Tamil person living in Canada
was apprehended by the Canadian authorities yesterday
(17) for allegedly collecting funds for the LTTE terrorists
in Sri Lanka. He was operating in Canada under the banner
of a socio-cultural organization, Canadian officials said
on Monday (17). It is reported that this is the first
incident where an LTTE operative was apprehended in Canadian
soil. The LTTE is a banned terrorist outfit in Canada.
The arrested man has been collecting funds for the LTTE
from the Tamil Diasporas in Canada.
According
to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) the apprehended
person has been identified as Prapaharan Thambithurai,
an ethnic Tamil who will face Canada's first terrorism
financing charge: collecting money for Sri Lanka's Tamil
Tigers.
A
senior British Columbia counter-terrorism officer told
the media that Mr. Thambithurai was soliciting donations
for the World Tamil Movement (WTM), which police say is
the leading front organization for the LTTE in Canada.
"There's
no doubt he was collecting funds for the WTM, ultimately
with the linkage to the LTTE," said Superintendent
Lloyd Plante, head of B.C.'s counter-terrorism squad,
the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team.
Canada's
leading newspaper, The National Post, reported the incident
and commented on emerging LTTE activities in Canada.
"Canada
is home to the world's largest expatriate Sri Lankan Tamil
community, and the RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence
Service have long alleged that front organizations based
in Toronto have been secretly sending money to the Tigers
to help them buy weapons.
"The
World Tamil Movement is considered by police to be the
main LTTE front organization in the country. Ottawa has
been trying to deport the group's former coordinator,
Manickavasagam Suresh, alleging he sent money to the Tigers
to buy military equipment.
"Two
years ago, after the Conservatives put the Tigers on Canada's
list of banned terrorist groups, the RCMP raided WTM offices
in Montreal and Toronto, carting away material police
said was evidence of terrorist fundraising".
The
RCMP raided a WTM office in Vancouver in 2005, following
allegations that money raised to help victims of the South
Asian tsunami had been diverted to the Tigers, but no
arrests were made at that time.
America's
leading rights organization Human Rights Watch accused
the WTM of using pressure tactics against Canadian Tamils
to raise funds, but police had been unable to lay charges,
partly because witnesses were afraid to come forward.
Agents
of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers in Western nations have been
vigorously raising funds to fight the Government of Sri
Lanka.
"This
is a first," Supt. Plante said. "We certainly
want to get the message out to the Sri Lankan community
that this activity can't be condoned, it's illegal."
Courtesy
- Government Information