Raising funds through illegal means:

International crackdown on Tiger activities

by Shanika SRIYANANDA

International investigations are under way by the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany to crack down on LTTE activities, specially its international financial network, by which it is still raising funds through illegal means. Intelligence sources told the Sunday Observer that the government is engaged at diplomatic level with these and other countries in the European Union to expose the LTTE’s financial network.

Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany have arrested several prominent LTTE fund raisers recently. The US State Department, earlier claimed that although the LTTE had lost its war on the ground in Sri Lanka, its international financial network has remained largely intact.

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa launching the Report on ‘Humanitarian Mission: Factual Analysis’ recently said; “It is important to realise that although the LTTE had been militarily defeated in Sri Lanka, its international organisation remains largely intact to this day. As the Report demonstrates, the LTTE had at its disposal a vast international network that was active in many parts of the world.

A significant component of that network was its propaganda arm. This continues to work actively, though often in disguise, to promote the separatist cause and discredit the Government of Sri Lanka.

This network has funds at its disposal, and pushes its agenda through influential international figures and misled media outlets, which continue to accept and even promote this propaganda with very little objective examination”,.

The Dutch authorities which launched an investigation called ‘Operation Koninck’ to expose the role of LTTE leaders in the Netherlands sent a team of investigators to Sri Lanka recently to gather evidence against the LTTE leaders, involved in the LTTE’s financial network in the Netherlands.

Intelligence sources said that the team, which visited Sri Lanka thrice had collected more evidence from hardcore LTTEers, including those in custody, two weeks ago.

The sources said that the LTTE fund-raising groups, which are still actively involved in collecting funds in European countries resort to blackmail and extortion to raise funds from Tamils in these countries.