Keeping LTTE maritime activities in check:

It’s time for aggressive action - Prof. Rohan Gunaratne

by Manjula FERNANDO

International terrorism expert and Head of Singapore’s International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research Prof. Rohan Gunaratne in an interview with the Sunday Observer says the vessel “MV Sun Sea” which was spotted heading towards Australia with around 200 passenger human cargo, including some hardcore LTTE figures, early last week, could unload its cargo mid sea into another vessel and proceed undetected, if the governments did not act swiftly to intercept it in the deep sea.

The captain of the rogue ship, Vinod was suspected in smuggling several tons of arms, ammunition and explosives from North Korea to Sri Lanka in the past.

Q: Sri Lankan authorities have tipped off Australia early last week that a ship carrying LTTE cadre was heading their way. What can you tell us about this mysterious ship “MV Sun Sea”?

A: The presence of “MV Sun Sea” in the Gulf of Thailand came to light as a result of a multinational investigation by Australian, Canadian and other relevant governments.

Western governments who had monitored the activities of LTTE members engaged in shipping and procurement of weapons from North Korea to Sri Lanka, have now found that these LTTE members have now switched over to criminal activities.

Q: Are all the 200 odd passengers members of the LTTE? Has anyone established the port where she set sail?

A: The ship can carry about 300 passengers. At this point there are between 150-200 passengers, including senior member and leaders of the LTTE. Various governments are working together to identify the LTTE members and the leaders on board.

Q: Any hardcore LTTE members in the voyage?

A: Yes, there are a few dozen LTTE leaders, members and helpers on board “MV Sun Sea”. For instance, the Captain of the ship, Vinod was earlier engaged in smuggling several thousand tons of arms, ammunition and explosives from North Korea to Sri Lanka.

Q: The vessel had earlier been heading towards British Columbia but then why did it change course?

A: The original plan of the LTTE was to reach Canada sailing across the Pacific, which is a very long voyage, but then due to engine trouble they reviewed their original plan and decided on Australia. The ship is likely to move on any time or they may transfer the passengers to another ship. Instead of waiting for a ship to land on its shores, the governments of Australia and Canada must consider an upstream disruption.

Q: According to reports Thai authorities have spotted “MV Sun Sea” (Harin Panich19) in their Exclusive Economic Zone in April and when the Thai Navy tried to intercept the vessel, the ship’s captain had threatened that the people would jump overboard if they closed in. Earlier such human cargo to Australia took off via Indonesia. Is this a new route the smugglers have now established?

A: Australia and Canada are the favoured destinations of the LTTE, because the laws in Australia and Canada are exceptionally weak. As such, both these countries have emerged as safe havens for multiple terrorist groups and their support bases. The most important ingredient a government needs to fight terrorism and crime is political will. The leaders in Australia and Canada lack that political will to act.

Q: Is it also owned and operated by LTTE like the “Princess Easwary”/”Ocean Lady” which had smuggled 76 people including suspected Tamil Tigers to Canada (British Columbia) last October?

A: The LTTE cell in the West organized both “MV Ocean Lady” (“Princess MV Easwary”) and “MV Sun Sea”. While “MV Ocean Lady” smuggled people to Canada, “MV Sun Sea” is also preparing to embark on a similar venture.

The LTTE cell is led by Shanmugasundaram Kanthaskaran alias Karan alias Aruna in UK and Ravi Shankar Kanagarajah alias Sangili in Canada. They are both members of the LTTE and served on the procurement and shipping branch of the LTTE.

After the defeat of the LTTE, this network are now resorting to criminal activities. This faction reported to Manivannan Veerakulasingham alias Castro, the head of the LTTE international network and after his death in May 2009, to his deputy Perinpanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyawan.

Q: The case against the passengers of “Princess Easwary” is still pending. Despite evidential proof the ship had been an arms carrying vessel operated by the LTTE and the case seems to be dragging, perhaps with an underhand trying to manipulate the proceedings?

A: “MV Easwary” is a well maintained ship, owned and operated by the LTTE. It was purchased by Ponniah Anandarajah, the head of LTTE shipping and procurement wing, based in Japan.

In early 2009, Ponniah Anandarajah used “MV Easwary” to transfer a huge quantity of arms, ammunition and explosives from North Korea to Sri Lanka. As it became clear to the top leadership of the LTTE that the ship’s cargo will not make it to Sri Lanka, they dumped the cargo in the mid sea.

The LTTE has now vested the ownership of “MV Easwary” in Sangili who is now living in Canada. Previously, he was the Captain of the LTTE merchant tanker “Showa Maru”.

Q: The stories about the illegal immigrants may be a tip of the iceberg. What is the larger picture? Is there a fully blown human smuggling operation operated by the LTTE? If so, who are the bigwigs behind the racket?

A: The LTTE’s shipping and procurement staffers are highly skilled. They are masters in clandestine and ‘compartmentalized’ operations. Today, they want to survive and people smuggling is one of their most lucrative businesses.

The leaders of the network should be prosecuted and the members be offered amnesty and rehabilitated by the Sri Lankan Government. The members should be invited by the government, trained in new skills and upon their release, offered employment. Otherwise, they will move down the road of serious and organized crimes such as credit card, bank fraud, narcotics and human smuggling.

Other than Aruna and Sangili, the key leader is Perinpanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyawan is in Norway. They are not only engaged in international criminal activities but also in disrupting the reconciliation efforts in Sri Lanka. As such they must be arrested and prosecuted.

Q: LTTE has been decimated in Sri Lanka, and when there is no way they could build up a military campaign again on this soil, why should we bother at all if the LTTE is regrouping elsewhere?

A: The centre of activity of LTTE activities has shifted from Sri Lanka to overseas and the attitude of some in the Sri Lankan government is divided in their opinion.

Many believe that Sri Lanka should continue to rebuild the north east and the radicalized segments of the Sri Lankan Tamils will realise sooner or later and they will participate in this noble exercise.

Others believe that in parallel with the unprecedented socio-economic development in the north east, government must actively detect, disrupt and degrade the LTTE network overseas.

LTTE cells in France, Malaysia and a few other countries were planning to mount attacks in Sri Lanka in the past year. However, the Sri Lankan Secretary of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa was able to prevent those attacks from materializing.

Q: Why have the foreign governments failed so far to notice the presence of LTTE remnants in their lands which ought to be a threat to their national security? (Canada last week extradited a drug dealer, J. Sittampalam who is suspected of having links with the LTTE. He was arrested following a shoot out incident involving rival gangs, in which at least three bystanders were killed).

A: Most governments are reactive - they wait until an incident to occur to act. Wise governments are proactive.

Q: How can supporters of a banned terrorist organisation hold open elections in the EU, US, Canada and Australia to form governments in exile to support the cause of separatism in Sri Lanka? Isn’t it against their laws?

A: Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Ministry and its missions overseas have failed in their responsibility to advance its national security interests. Instead of reacting to events, Sri Lankan diplomats should have proactive raised an awareness and educated those governments that LTTE international network was planning to revive their organisation and disrupt the peace in Sri Lanka.

Operating through the transnational government of Tamil Ealam in the US and the Global Tamil Forum in the UK, the LTTE has built a network that seeks to poison the young Tamil minds once again.

Q: We hear stories of LTTE presence in many countries. Where is the LTTE’s actual operational base Malaysia, India or Norway?

A; The LTTE has a presence in all the three countries - they have penetrated respective political establishment in all three countries and have created support networks.

The LTTE leader Nediyawan lives in Norway. LTTE network in India and Malaysia did suffer due to sustained operations mounted by the Indian and Malaysian governments. To fight this threat, Sri Lankan government should build a much larger diplomatic, law enforcement, intelligence and informative capability to operate overseas.

Q: India is the closest destination for fleeing LTTE cadre. Can Tamil Nadu be the base for “future LTTE”?

A: Sri Lanka must post its best diplomat, not to Washington DC or to London, but to Chennai. Traditionally, Tamil Nadu has been the largest support base of the LTTE.

This must be made to change by engaging the Tamil Nadu politicians and inviting the Tamil Nadu officials to visit Sri Lanka and see for themselves the unprecedented development in the north east of Sri Lanka.

Q: How can Sri Lanka effectively counter the human smuggling racket?

A: Build larger criminal intelligence capabilities both at home and overseas. Revamp the anti-human smuggling capability in the police and post highly trained and motivated officers overseas to work with their foreign counterparts.