Tiger in Canada to be extradited to US

US: A man charged in connection with a North American network that police allege provides weapons to the LTTE has been ordered extradited to the US.

However, Ramanan Mylvaganam, 31, will remain in Canada while he appeals the extradition order imposed earlier this fall by a Federal Court judge, according to Justice Canada.

Mylvaganam remains in custody, and a date to hear his appeal has yet to be set.

Mylvaganam, a computer engineering student at University of Waterloo who came to Canada from Sri Lanka in 1992, was arrested on August 22, 2006 at his Derry Rd. E. apartment by the RCMP. He was picked up on a provisional warrant at the request of American authorities.

One month later, Mylvaganam was granted bail and returned to university, where he continued to pursue a master's degree until being returned into custody last week.

Mylvaganam served as a vice-president of the university's Tamil Students Association in 2004. He and four other Ontario men have been charged with one count each of conspiring to provide material support and resources to the Tigers.

In April 2006, the Tigers were added to Canada's official list of terrorist organisations.

Twelve men have been charged in the joint FBI-RCMP investigation.

The sweep also included arrests in Buffalo, San Jose, Seattle and Connecticut.

According to his brother, Raghu, Mylvaganam was supposed to start a job at Microsoft's international headquarters in Redmond, Washington in late 2006, but those plans were put on hold after he was arrested.

US prosecutors say the arrests are in relation to a network of men in Canada and the US that allegedly used members' post-secondary studies as a cover for terrorist activities. Officials say the group kept in contact with top Tiger operatives in Sri Lanka and the US. It tried to obtain compasses, computers and night-vision goggles for the Tigers, but also had bigger plans that included the purchase of aviation equipment, American prosecutors allege.

- Mississauga News