‘Dismantling security platform will be counter-productive
by Manjula Fernando
An international terrorism expert Prof. Rohan Gunaratna said if Sri
Lanka dismantles its security platform islandwide terrorism could make a
comeback to Sri Lanka just like it did in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 Prof. Gunaratna who heads one of the largest counter-terrorism
research and training centres in the world in an email interview said
that the LTTE lobby overseas focuses on dismantling the security
platform in Sri Lanka to make a surreptitious comeback and the
Government should be alert to resist such international pressure.
Prof. Gunaratna is the head of the International Centre for Political
Violence and Terrorism Research at Nanyang Technological University in
Singapore. He said Nanathagopan was a key advisor to the LTTE and his
arrest is the most significant breakthrough after LTTE’s Kumaran
Pathmanathan returned in August 2009.
The senior leader, Nanathagopan had worked for the Wanni based LTTE
international secretariat under “Castro” as the Deputy Head before the
end of LTTE terror.
“In addition to managing LTTE branches and fronts overseas, the
Secretariat also had a Media House that churned out propaganda.”
The Wanni Secretariat also coordinated political and financial
activities and procurement and Nanathagopan had been involved in a full
range of activities.
Nanathagopan had applied for refugee status from the UN Refugee body,
UNHCR keeping his terrorist background a secret. He had left Sri Lanka
after the humanitarian operation and joined international LTTE fronts to
work for the revival of the outfit in Sri Lanka. |
