LTTE’s main agent in arms network, a serious threat - Expert

by Shanika SRIYANANDA

International counter terrorism expert Shanaka Jayasekara said that Ponniah Anandarajah, the main agent of the LTTE’s arms network in the post-KP period, still poses a serious threat to Sri Lanka’s efforts in countering the LTTE’s international links.

Jayasekara, an Associate Lecturer at the Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism (PICT) at Macquarie University in Sydney, told the Sunday Observer that Anandarajah is still having access to gun-running networks globally.

“The arrest of KP, the arrest of Rajan and the acquisition of the LTTE vessel MV Chrishantha are great achievements for Sri Lanka’s security agencies”, he said.

Jayasekara who is doing research on terrorist fund-raising, weapons procurement and support networks, said that it was difficult to estimate the LTTE’s total wealth as most of the investments were hidden or in front companies.

“The only figure that I have come across is that TRO leader Regi, now living in the UK has over US$50 million of TRO funds under his control.

The LTTE is still having six single engine aircraft packed in crates in a warehouse in Asmara, Eretria. It is also believed that one sea plane allegedly purchased with LTTE funds is running charter flights in the Fiji Islands”, he said.

Jayasekara said that most of the LTTE’s ships had been destroyed by the Sri Lanka Navy in deep sea operations and the security agencies seized the MV Chrishantha, the LTTE’s largest weapons ship. “The Princess Eswarie (Ocean Lady) captained by Kamalraj Kandasamy was the main vessel that transported weapons out of North Korea for the LTTE. In the post-May 2009 situation, after the arrest of KP in Malaysia the LTTE operatives felt insecure in South East Asian countries and fled to Canada”, he said.

He also said that the trend continued when the MV Sun Sea, captained by Vinod with a LTTE crew travelled to Canada. “The trend is very clear and members of the LTTE shipping network (Sea Pigeons) are using their seafaring skills to transport asylum seekers to western countries. The LTTE’s main shipping location for the Asian region was based in Cebu in the Philippines”, he said.

Jayasekara said that to prevent the LTTE smuggling people to the West, countries such as Canada and Australia need to look into their asylum seeker criteria on the UNHCR recommendations.

“The UNHCR has clearly indicated that Tamil persons from Northern Sri Lanka are not in any danger and political asylum should be considered only for an individual who has a specific threat in Sri Lanka. Therefore, based on the UNHCR recommendation all Tamil boat people should be sent back. This will be a clear message to potential asylum seekers”, he said. He said that payments to most of these human smugglers don’t directly come from asylum seekers and the money is paid by relatives living abroad. The Canadian authorities should track down payments made by their relatives in Canada.

“These human smuggling vessels maintain satellite phone contact during the voyage and these contacts should also come under surveillance”, he said.