Australia considering to ban LTTE – Foreign Minister Stephan Smith [October 13 2008]

Australia is set to be the latest country to ban the LTTE and name the outfit as a terror organisation and fall in line with the USA, European Union, India and Canada. The Australian Federal Government is considering listing Tigers as a terror organization, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told reporters after meeting his Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollagama today.

Canberra Senator Steve Hutchins (Australian Labour Party, New South Wales), in his recent address to the Australian Federal Parliament, blasted the LTTE on several counts and urged the Australian Government to proscribe the LTTE as a terrorist organisation under domestic law.

The LTTE has been banned under international law but not under Australian domestic law. Led by the Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights in Sri Lanka (SPUR) there is a growing lobby to list the LTTE under the Criminal Code of 1995 which would proscribe it under domestic law, giving the Police more powers to track down and prosecute agents of LTTE terrorism in Australia.