Student was Tiger agent?
A University of Waterloo engineering graduate who was arrested in
Ontario during a U.S. anti-terror probe used his student status to mask
his work for the Tamil Tigers terrorist organization and recruited other
students to act as couriers to smuggle equipment to Sri Lanka, U.S.
authorities allege.
Suresh Sriskandarajah, 26, of Waterloo, Ont., worked in Canada to aid
the victims of the 2004 tsunami, is an accomplished athlete and
academically gifted, having completed his electrical engineering degree
in June on two scholarships.
Mr. Sriskandarajah, who appeared briefly in a Kitchener court
yesterday, is also alleged to be an operative for the Tigers codenamed
"Waterloo Suresh."
Prosecutors in New York want him to face charges of providing
material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
Guns and other weapons
He is accused of researching and acquiring aviation equipment,
submarine and warship design software, communications equipment and,
from a British Columbia company, night-vision equipment. He also
allegedly laundered money for Tiger activities.
He is one of at least four Canadian men of Tamil descent who have
been arrested in the probe. Three men were arrested in New York after a
meeting to buy anti-aircraft missiles, machine guns and other military
weapons, the FBI says in court records.
Mr. Sriskandarajah was arrested near Toronto on Monday at the urgent
request of the U.S. government.
A formal request for his extradition is expected.
RCMP officers executed two search warrants, one north of Toronto and
the other in Kitchener, as part of their probe, codenamed Project
O-Needle.
There is also another man, who allegedly worked closely with
Mr.Sriskandarajah, wanted by U.S. authorities who is believed to be in
Canada. His name has not been released.
He is believed to be a man who was turned away at the Canada-U.S.
border because of a prior criminal record when co-conspirators went to
New York to allegedly buy the military hardware.
Mr. Sriskandarajah used his position as a university student to
legitimize his inquiries about buying military software from a British
company, prosecutors allege.
Mr. Sriskandarajah and another man were concerned about being asked
why they wanted it. "They are asking me a lot of questions. I don't want
to sound suspicious, so want to give them a good answer," said an
unnamed man in an e-mail to Mr. Sriskandarajah, the FBI alleges.
Mr. Sriskandarajah "devised an elaborate scheme to make it appear as
if the software was merely for a school project," according to FBI
Special Agent James Tareco in documents.
The student ruse was also tried on a company in British Columbia, the
FBI says. To justify their interest in night-vision equipment, a
co-conspirator said it was for "a fourth-year design project we are
doing at our university," according to documents.
Mr. Sriskandarajah was also allegedly involved in organizing student
couriers to travel to Sri Lanka with equipment hidden in their luggage.
"Here is the info you'll need... read it / print it / delete this
email afterwards," Mr. Sriskandarajah allegedly wrote in an email to
student couriers.
He allegedly directed the students to cover the smuggled items with
teddy bears and chocolates to divert the attention of government border
guards.
When opening their suitcases, they were told to give the border
agents each a bag of chocolates, cigarettes and a smile.
"[D]on't tell anyone besides your family about your departure; you
idiots already told way too much people," the email continues, according
to the FBI.
Once through government checkpoints, they would have no problems at
the Tigers checkpoints, Mr. Sriskandarajah allegedly wrote in the
e-mail.
"Tell them Waterloo Suresh sent you," the e-mail says.
Polite young man
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, commonly called the Tamil
Tigers, are fighting for a Tamil homeland separate from Sri Lanka and
are notorious for its use of suicide bombings and its assassination of
Rajiv Gandhi, the former Indian Prime Minister. It was declared a
terrorist organization in the U.S. in 1997 and in Canada this year.
Hal Mattson, the attorney who represented Mr. Sriskandarajah at his
hearing yesterday, said his client graduated from the University of
Waterloo in June in engineering and travelled to Sri Lanka for a co-op
term.
"He seemed to be a very polite young man," said Mr. Mattson.
Toronto lawyer Clayton Ruby confirmed yesterday that he has been
retained as Mr. Sriskandarajah's counsel, at the request of his family.
Nick Devlin, a federal prosecutor with Canada's Department of
Justice, said the U.S. government has 60 days to make a formal
extradition request through diplomatic channels and Mr. Sriskandarajah
has the right to seek bail in the interim.
He is to appear in a Kitchener court on Friday.
- Adrian Humphreys, National Post, Canada
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