Greece to close doors on Tiger terrorists

Dinesh Weerawansa reporting from Greece

ATHENS, May 11 - Greece plans to strengthen its anti-terrorism regulations, which would consequently ban the LTTE here. An official of the Greek Foreign Ministry said that they would implement all regulations adopted by the European Union in combatting world terrorism.

He said their Government would take steps to introduce new legislation in areas where the existing Greek laws are not strong enough to implement the regulations of the European Union against terrorism.

Though Greece comes under the European Union, which has already declared the LTTE a terrorist organisation, there have been several attempts by Tiger agents here to collect funds from the Tamil community living here.

The Greek Police are keeping a close eye on expatriates to eliminate unlawful acts and face any terrorist actions.

The Greek Government has already assured Sri Lanka that action would be taken to ban the LTTE in Greece and expressed its fullest support to curb LTTE terrorism and funding. This follows a fruitful round of talks between Minister of Foreign Affairs Rohitha Bogollagama and his Greek counterpart, Dora Bakoyannis last month.

Greece said they will make every possible endeavour to prevent terrorists and their front organisations from raising funds on Greek soil.

They will also implement the EU decision to include the LTTE on the list of terrorist organisations. Minister Bakoyannis has also assured support for the Lankan Government in coast guard training and related fields.

The official said Sri Lanka has sought the support of the international community to pressure the LTTE to return to the negotiating table and to combat all forms of terrorism including illegal arms smuggling, fund raising, drug smuggling, money laundering and human smuggling.

He said Greece would fully back Sri Lanka's struggle against terrorism.

Sri Lanka and Greece have also agreed to work closely and to appoint a joint committee to further strengthen the relationship in the areas of trade, investment, culture, tourism, education, fisheries and sport.

The LTTE has made a few desperate attempts to raise funds from Tamils living in Athens and its suburbs. The Tiger agents' attempts to raise funds through human smuggling too have not been possible as Greece has strengthened its coast guard force.

There have been several occasions in the past where the LTTE agents made large sums of money through human smuggling as Greece had been a relatively easy gateway to Europe.

The Greek Police has been particularly vigilant on Asian expatriates and their activities have been closely monitored.

The Police are keeping a close eye on illegal immigrants. Even those who have resident visas, are advised to carry their papers along with them. Due to its expanded shipping and relatively low population here, human smugglers have been using Greece as a transit point for job seekers looking for greener pastures in cities such as Rome, Paris and Zurich.

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