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Canada bans LTTE: Major blow in biggest base
By Stewart Bell
TORONTO, Saturday - The Tamil Tigers have been added to Canada's list of outlawed terrorist organizations, the National Post has learned. The designation was to be finalized yesterday, a day after Cabinet met to accept a recommendation from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
An official announcement was scheduled for Monday.

The Tigers are the 39th terrorist group to be outlawed under the Anti-Terrorism Act, and the first added to the list by the new Conservative government.

The move was spearheaded by Stockwell Day, the Minister of Public Safety, who in opposition repeatedly condemned the Liberals for not outlawing the Tigers.

The decision means it will now be a criminal offence to participate in the activities of the LTTE, a Sri Lankan separatist group responsible for more than 160 suicide bombings. For example, anyone convicted of financially supporting the Tigers could be imprisoned for up to 10 years.

But while the Tigers were placed on the list, the government stopped short of listing any of the terrorist group's Canadian front organizations.
The Cabinet order will likely have implications both at home and abroad. It will criminalize the Tiger "war taxes" that have long been paid -- both voluntarily and involuntarily -- by some Tamil-Canadians. Also, Canada has the world's largest Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, estimated at 250,000, and the listing could deal a blow to the Tigers, who are heavily dependent on Canadian and other foreign donors.

"It is estimated that between one and two million dollars are raised annually in Canada, making it one of the largest contributors of funds to the LTTE worldwide," according to a classified CSIS report circulated in 2000. "The LTTE has traditionally raised these monies through the use of front groups."
Last month, Human Rights Watch reported that LTTE supporters had been going door to door in Toronto since late 2005 extorting money from Tamil-Canadians to finance a "final war" for independence.

Although the Tigers are one of the most active terrorist groups in Canada, the Liberals had refused to outlaw their activities, some say because the party was afraid of angering Tamil-Canadian voters in Toronto. The situation had proved frustrating for the RCMP, CSIS and local police forces, which have long been investigating the Tigers' Canadian fundraising and support networks.

During the federal election campaign, the Conservatives promised to add the Tigers to Canada's official list of terrorist groups, and they fulfilled their pledge yesterday. No other terrorist groups are being added to the list at this time.
The decision is part of a hardening of Canada's counterterrorism policies that has been underway since the Conservatives took office.

Last week, the government also severed ties with the Palestinian Authority over the refusal of Hamas to moderate its platform. On three separate occasions, CSIS asked the Cabinet to list the Tigers, most recently a year ago, but the Liberals would not do so, saying they did not want to interfere with Sri Lanka's peace process.

The former Canadian ambassador to Sri Lanka, Martin Collacott, said the previous government's refusal to outlaw the Tigers left the LTTE relatively free to operate in Canada. He said that has actually hindered peace efforts.
"Once Canada designates the Tigers as terrorists and clamps down on their fundraising, they are much more likely to enter into serious negotiations with Colombo," he said.

"The Tigers and their supporters in Canada and particularly Toronto had become adept at delivering votes from the Tamil community to Liberal candidates at election time. As long as this support continued, the Liberals were prepared to let the Tigers have virtual free rein to carry out their activities in this country."

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan government officials told The Sunday Times last nigh they were awaiting an official announcement and verification on the LTTE ban, which was expected to take place tomorrow.

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