17th September 2000

By Alia

Good news

There is good news for the media starved of news from the north.

After more than six months, the Ministry of Defence is to relax the ban on local media visits to the north. This is not to say they will receive free and easy access (subject to military restrictions) to do their independent accounts.

Insiders say they will be invited to join conducted tours that are being planned beginning later this month. Schedules for the exercise are already being worked out.

Breakthrough

CID detectives made their first breakthrough on the polls sticker controversy only after revelations made by a radio cab driver.

He is said to have brought a car load of stickers to the Elections Department Headquarters at Battaramulla. Detectives probing the affaire only knew it came in a radio taxi and launched a search for the vehicle. The telephone number of the taxi company was prominently displayed on the door. They reached the company and talked to the driver.

That led the detectives to a hotel at the Sugathadasa Stadium where the corrugated boxes containing the stickers were loaded into the taxi. The events began to unfold thereafter.

International arms link

Did the well known international arms dealer and Saudi national, Adnan Khashoggi, have links with the LTTE ?

A one time Director of India's Central Bureau of Investigation, Joginder Singh, says he did and cites India's external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to back the claim.

This is what he says in his book "Inside CBI": "Reports submitted by agencies like RAW point to links between KP (Reference is to Kumaran Pathmanathan or KP, the LTTE's arms procurement man). These are in the form of deposits and withdrawals made from KP's account at Credit Suisse in Geneva to Khashoggi's account in the BCCI.

"The apparent purpose: to finance arms purchases. Further, reports submitted by UK's intelligence agency, MI 1, also detail meetings held between KP and representatives from Indian terrorist organisations like the JKLF, Babbar Khalsa and the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) in London in December, 1990."

Second name

The LTTE has given a second name to its phase of "Operation Oyatha Alaikal" (Ceaseless Waves) that led to the capture of Elephant Pass.

It calls it the A.K.V. battle. In Tamil A stands for Akaaya (Air), K for Kadal (Sea) and V for Samar (Land).

The three letters in Tamil also stand for three other related matters – A is for Aanaiyiravy (Tamil name for Elephant Pass), K for Kattaikadu (coastal village north of Mullaitivu) and V for Vettilaikerny (north eastern coastal village). All three were re-captured by the LTTE during "Operation Oyatha Alaikal" in April, this year.

Rajpal Abeynayake's Column

Editorial/ Opinion Contents