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| Sunday, 09 April 2006 |
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Security |  |
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Canada bans LTTE The Canadian cabinet has outlawed the Tamil Tigers, as reported in Saturday's National Post by Stewart Bell. The National Post writers said: Officially called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Tigers are the world's most fervent suicide bombers, having launched more attacks in their war against the Sri Lankan government than even Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad. Over the past 20 years, the LTTE's war for an independent homeland has cost 60,000 lives in Sri Lanka. "Three times, the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service asked the Liberals to ban the Tigers; each time, the Liberals refused. Now the new government had finally banned the Liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam in Canada, and an official government announcement will be made later in the day,'' the National Post reported. 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 Tamil Tigers, in Canada. "For example, anyone convicted of financially supporting the Tigers could be imprisoned for up to 10 years,'' the National Post story stated. The Cabinet order will likely have implications both in Canada and outside it. 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, according to the National Post story. Sri Lankan analysts said this is a significant acknowledgement that the
LTTE is an internationally blacklisted terror group. |
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