ISSN: 1391 - 0531
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Vol. 42 - No 07
News  

Britain cracking down on LTTE fund raising too

From Neville de Silva in London

Britain is acting against bogus charities raising funds for the LTTE as part of its concerted effort to combat terrorism in the UK, a Government minister told the House of Lords.

Lord Bassam of Brighton, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Home Office said that besides other action the Government was taking against the LTTE - banned in the UK since 2001 - it was also clamping down on the use of ‘bogus charities’ to raise money for the LTTE.“We know that we must be ever vigilant and we encourage the British public to join us in that vigilance,” he said.

The Home Office minister was responding to an initial question last week in the Lords by Lord Naseby who has lived and worked for several years in Sri Lanka. Lord Naseby’s oral question prompted two other Lords,- Lord Avebury and Lord Archer of Sandwell- to enter the discussion.

Lord Naseby asked the Government whether “they had taken any action since June 2006 to curtail or prosecute those persons promoting the activities of the proscribed organisation Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.” In reply Lord Bassam said that he understood that the police have recently charged two individuals with offences relating to membership of and support for the LTTE.

He said he did not wish to comment further on it as it could prejudice any potential trial. Lord Naseby said that the action taken by the police in arresting AC Shanthan, ‘the de facto leader’ of the LTTE in the UK and G Lambert is extremely welcome. He said that according to the police they had recovered literature and manuals relating to underwater warfare systems, explosive ordnance disposal and naval weapons systems.

He asked whether this, the continuing credit card frauds, intimidation and bogus charities did not underline the need to ensure that the proscription of the LTTE continues until such time as the Tiger leader comes to the conference table and agrees to a peace settlement. The Home Office minister said he entirely agreed with Lord Naseby.

Lord Avebury pointed out that just the other day the LTTE celebrated the 20th anniversary of its suicide bombing campaign and that the LTTE’s commercial links with al Qaeda had been exposed. He asked whether the Government has made available enough resources to fight the campaign of intimidation and extortion by the LTTE to collect funds here for its terrorist activities in Sri Lanka.

Lord Archer said that both sides had committed atrocities. He said the real difference was that extremists on both sides were trying to escalate violence while the moderates on both sides are looking for a negotiated settlement. In response Lord Bassam said that Britain must make efforts to work with the Sri Lankan Government to ensure that the peace process was reinvigorated.
Meanwhile the Sri Lanka High Commission is believed to have expressed its serious concerns to the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone for granting permission to a group of Tamil borough councillors to hold a rally in Trafalgar Square to protest human rights violations by the Sri Lanka Government.

In a letter to the Mayor the High Commissioner is said to have expressed her fears that given the past history of the four Tamil councillors concerned and earlier rallies being turned into pro-LTTE meetings, that Saturday’s protest too will end up as such.

In view of a barrage of protests received by the Mayor, a spokesman for the Greater London Authority (GLA) has sent a general reply in which it says that it has granted permission for the rally as the public have a right to participate in meetings as part of the fundamental right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

However the GLA said that in granting permission it has made it a condition that “there will be no promotion of the LTTE on stage (including banners) or through the rally programme and that the focus of the rally is a peaceful protest regarding human rights issues in Sri Lanka.”

However several campaigners, including those from the Tamil community, wonder whether the GLA or the police would have the language skills to monitor whether the LTTE was being promoted or not.

The police, wary after what happened at last July’s demonstration at Hyde Park, as a result of which two persons allegedly involved are now being charged, were expected to video the proceedings for study later.

 
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Copyright 2007 Wijeya Newspapers Ltd.Colombo. Sri Lanka.