Intelligence-sharing vital to counter terrorism

Gotabaya Rajapaksa meets Security Forces personnel

The mastermind behind Sri Lanka's landmark military victory over the world's most ruthless terrorist outfit is none other than the Secretary of Defence, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. His first hand experience in the battlefront for many years as a senior Army officer helped immensely in leading the battle against terror.

According to the Defence Secretary, cooperation between intelligence agencies is essential for maintaining national and regional security.

"Having a proper understanding between the Financial Intelligence Units, Intelligence Agencies and Law Enforcement Agencies within the region is therefore extremely important in tracking illegal financial transactions and identifying and apprehending the culprits involved," he said.

Making the keynote address at the Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) recently, Rajapaksa said regional security could be ensured from threats of terrorism, human trafficking, drug smuggling and illegal financial transactions only by sharing intelligence. He said if intelligence is to be effective, it should be shared among the nations.

"Sri Lanka suffered from three decades of terrorism, which we successfully overcame four years ago, and have experienced the problems caused by drug smuggling and human trafficking from time to time. While most of the countries in the Bay of Bengal region have addressed these issues to some extent, the threat of terrorism, terrorist financing, illegal migration of persons, and trafficking of drugs and other illegal substances still remain at large.

As a result, it is important that all nations remain vigilant and proactive with regard to these threats," he said.

The Secretary of Defence said, the most important tool that nations have at their disposal in countering these threats is intelligence.

For intelligence to be more effective, however, it needs to be shared among nations. It is also important to realise that some of the serious threats that nations face in today's environment are truly localised.

Terrorism, human trafficking, narcotic drug smuggling and illegal financial transactions that support all these activities are not confined to one nation but take place among several nations and across national borders.

For example, when the LTTE was engaging in ruthless terrorism activities in Sri Lanka, it raised funds abroad and used agents in various parts of the world to smuggle arms, ammunition and heavy weaponry to Sri Lanka across the sea. Even after the end of the war against terrorism, the rump of the LTTE organisation is still engaged in raising funds and trying to regroup to destabilise the country through various means.

"These elements have gone to the extent of providing arms training abroad to LTTE cadres in recent times.

Because of the effective cooperation between intelligence agencies, however, we were able to identify and stop these developments in their early stages. This is an example of how enhanced cooperation between Intelligence agencies is essential for maintaining national and regional security," he said.

"It is important to realise that because of the freedoms we enjoy, and the relaxation of our immigration laws and procedures for tourism promotion and trade purposes, terrorists and other criminals have the opportunity to use any of the countries in this region as meeting places, transit points or even temporary bases from which to initiate their activities. "When the LTTE was at its best, the Tigers collected vast sums of money in various countries around the world and transferred the funds to Sri Lanka through various legal and illegal channels. "Tracking these transfers, particularly when they happened through informal channels, was a very difficult exercise. Having a proper understanding between the Financial Intelligence Units, Intelligence Agencies and Law Enforcement Agencies within the region is therefore extremely important in tracking illegal financial transactions and identifying and apprehending the culprits involved," he said.

Particularly in today's globalised context, the full potential of regional organisations such as BIMSTEC, to enhance technical and security cooperation must be exploited by member nations. Although there are international agencies that are engaged in these activities, Sri Lana's experience has shown that bilateral and regional cooperation among the intelligence and law enforcement institutions in the country has produced superior results. It is ultimately the cooperation, mutual assistance and cordial relationships within the region that will help nations in the region to achieve their goals.