posted October 26, 2000 11:55 PM            

News
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LTTE slanders and attempts to intimidate Island Cor. Dushy Ranetunga in UK
The LTTE has launched a campaign of slander and attempted intimidation against the London based correspondent of The Island Dushy Ranetunga following exposures of covert LTTE activites and its fronts worldwide. The attack on our correspodent has been launched through the pro- LTTE Canadian Tamil language newspaper Thamilar Senthumarai.

The "Thamilar Senthamarai" in its latest issue in bold headlines screamed: DEATH THREATs TO THE LIVES OFCANADIAN EELAM SUPPORTERS FROM THE U.S. BASED "8th REGIMENT OF THE NORTHERN LIONS"

An English translation of the article states " International supporters of the LTTmost of who live as refugees in western countries and carry on the fight for a Tamilhomeland, are today faced with death threats to their lives. These threats come from an organisation called the "8th Regiment of the Northern Lions".

"This group is based in the state of Kentucky in the USA. This group is very vigilant ofthe people who support the LTTE. The objective of this group is to kill a Tamil Eelam supporter in a Western country, every time the LTTE kills a soldier of the Sri Lankan

government. To achieve this objective, they have already launched a fund-raising drive and have opened bank accounts. The group has labelled supporters of the LTTE in western countries as LTTE terrorists and has said that once the lion starts to hunt, no one can sleep in peace."

"The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry is connected to this organisation."

"Two key people in this organisation are Mr. Rohan Gunaratna and Dushy Ranatunga. Rohan Gunaratne, who is in London and Dushy Ranatunga who is in the United States, have nominated representatives all over the world to collect information. It has been learnt that they are to firstly function from USA, Canada, Switzerland, England, Germany and France."

Dushy ranetunge yesterday told The Island: ‘Reeling from recent revelations in ‘The Island" newspaper and "Dateline" SBS TV programme in Australia, the LTTE has begun a programme of intimidation against this writer by launching a massive front page attack in a pro-LTTE Canadian Tamil language newspaper "Thamilar Senthamarai" with the motive of provoking the lunatic fringe of LTTE supporters against me and well known writer Rohan Guneratne.

On the 28th, 29th and 30th of August 2000, in an exclusive report, ‘The Island’ exposed the link between LTTE fronts and human rights groups highlighting the case of the Tamil Centre for Human Rights (TCHR) which attempted to infiltrate the UN and gain UN-NGO consultative status. The Tamil Centre for Human Rights (TCHR) was refused consultative status by the UN-NGO committee on the grounds that it had links to a terroristorganisation.

On the 4th of October a special in-depth investigation by the "Island" titled "British Charities Fund Terrorists", a major terrorist fund raising racket on how millions of pounds are raised and transferred out of the UK tax free was revealed, exposing the part played by the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), the LTTEās premiere fund raising organisation which is also a registered charity in the UK. On the same day in Australiathe prestigious "Dateline" current affairs programme broadcast by SBS TV also exposed the TRO-LTTE link and soon afterwards suspended Dr Jay Maheswaran, an employee of SBS radio Tamil language service. Dr Jay Maheswaran is the international co-ordinator of theTamil Rehabilitation Organisation(TRO) which has its headquarters in Melbourne,Australia. The Australian law enforcement authorities have also begun investigating the matter and has already questioned those connected to the TRO in Australia.

The Island investigation titled "British Charities Fund Terrorists" has outraged many in Britain and British authorities have begun investigating the use of charities for terrorist fund raising. Edited versions of the two articles mentioned above were also published in the "Asian Age" newspaper in Britain on the 18th and 19th of October titled "LTTE uses rights bodies as smokescreen" and "LTTE rakes in funds via UK-based charities".

The "Asian Age" is a British daily with an Asian perspective with wide circulation

throughout the United Kingdom. In response, the headline of the October 19th issue of the Canadian Tamil language pro-LTTE Dushy Ranetunga yesterday told The island, that the Thamilar Senthamarai got it all wrong. He said: Dr Rohan Gunaratna is a full time academic at a university in Scotland and not London. I live in London, and not the United States as alleged by this malicious report in the pro-LTTE "Thamilar Senthamarai", and has never been in the employment of the Sri Lankan state. I have lived my entire adult life outside Sri Lanka.

‘This malicious report states that Dr Gunaratna was attached to the Sri Lankan police force and fled Sri Lanka because he was responsible for the capture of Rohana Wijeweera, who led two left wing insurgencies against the Sri Lankan state and that Gunaratna was transferred by the Sri Lankan foreign ministry to the Sri Lankan High Commission in London.

‘Furthermore this malicious report states that I am a nephew of deputy defence minister Anuruddha Ratwatteās wife, and was in the employment of the Embassy of the United States in Colombo, and after a meteoric carrier move became a special representative of the Sri Lankan foreign ministry, now operating out of the United States.

It then alleges that Dr Gunaratna and myself have prepared a "hit list" of 63 "Eelam supporters" world wide, marking them out for assassination and ends by giving advise to the Tamils "With regard to this news, it is better for all expatriate Tamils to join together and take appropriate measures accordingly."

This is obviously a threat, urging the lunatic fringe of the LTTE to take action against Dr Rohan Gunaratna and myself, before we carry out our alleged world wide assassinations of Eelam Tamil supporters, heading a task force based in the United States. The "hit list" of LTTE supporters as published by the "Thamilar Senthamarai" alleging conspiracy to assassinate by a task force led by Dr Rohan Gunaratna and myself includes names such as "Dr. Anton Balasingham, Mr. Vasantharajah, Canadian MP Jim Karigyannis, Ms. Anitha Prathap, Col. Balraj, Sivaram (Tharakki), Dr. Maheswaran, Mr. Raja Kunanathan, Francis Xavier (Kutti), Sinnapu Siththar, Sita Sittampalam, Swarnalingam, S.P. Kirupakaran, George Fernandez (Defence Minister of India), Mr. Kumar Ponnampalam (already killed), Y. Gopalaswamy, Nadaraja Muralitharan, Vishvanathan Rudrakumaran (LTTE Lawyer in New York), V. Thangavelu, Barbara Jackman (Lawyer), Dr. Arjun Sittampalam, Prof. Sellathurai Manoharan, Prof. Eleezer (Australia), Satchithanadan Sadhanandhan, Rubin Bread (M.P.F.), Joseph Pararajasingham, Kumaran Pathmanadan, Lawrence Thilagar, Malcolm Rathport (MP, U.K.), Mr. and Mrs Nagalingam (America) Dharmalingam Shanmugam Kumaran, Nedumaran, Prof. Rebic (NewZealand), Sathyendra (U.K.), Kathan Sothilingam, Geethan Shennan (South Africa), Kumaravelu Vicknarajah (Canada), Manikkawasagam Suresh (Canada), Meera Kunarathnasigham (Canada)." Several of those mentioned were interviewed together with Dr Rohan Gunaratna and myself in the SBS TV Dateline programme broadcast in Australia on Wednesday 4th of October.

According to some LTTE watchers, this article published in the pro-LTTE "Thamilar Senthamarai" is a crude attempt to discredit and intimidate Dr Rohan Gunaratna and myself in response to a perception that the recent articles in the "Island" and SBS TV programme broadcast in Australia and filmed in Australia, Sri Lanka, Israel, United Kingdom and Canada may be the start of a global investigation into LTTEās fund raising to finance terrorism.

But others assessed that since it has been published in a Tamil language newspaper, the motive may be to provoke the LTTE lunatic fringe and cause harm, especially with the final paragraph of the article which encourages LTTE supporters to take action. The LTTE style suicide attack on a US warship in Yemen and links between the LTTE and other anti-American terror groups such as the PKK have resulted in increased international security concerns about the LTTE world-wide.

This year I visited a PKK office in North London and purchased an English language PKK propaganda book and among the many articles justifying PKK terrorism against Turkey was a heroās day speech by the LTTE leader, V Pirapaharan. The PKK book was printed by Selvan Printers of South London.

The pro-LTTE Tamil language newspaper "Thamilar Senthamarai" is published in Canada by Kanaka Arasaratnam a former journalist of Veerakesari (Tamil language newspaper based in Sri Lanka). It is published from 629 Markham Rd, Scarborough, a predominantly Tamil neighbourhood in Toronto. His wife Raji who is from a village between Mylitti and Kankasanthurai(KKS) in Sri Lanka is a close relative of Muralidaran Nadarajah alias "Swiss Murali", the former LTTE chief in Switzerland.

In 1996 Swiss police in Zurich arrested Muralidaran Nadarajah alias "Swiss Murali", the LTTE chief in Switzerland and 15 other LTTE activists on charges of terror and offences relating to property and were imprisoned in Switzerland. During police searches conducted in LTTE safe houses, documents and SFR 200,000 in cash were seized. After his release Muralidaran Nadarajah illegally entered Canada and was arrested by the Canadian authorities on 15th September 1998. RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) and the Toronto Tamil Task force arrested Muralidaran Nadarajah aged 37 years of Bridletown Circle, Scarborough and charged him with impersonation, Obstruction of Justice and false documentation. Nadarajah was under investigation by the RCMP, Milton Immigration and Passport Section for allegedly being in Canada under false identification and for his alleged leadership role in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Switzerland. He is currently on bail in Canada awaiting deportation.

Canadian police visited the offices of "Thamilar Senthamarai" recently, when it came to their attention that former Swiss LTTE chief of Muralidaran Nadarajah alias "Swiss Murali" was involved in its editorial work. Furthermore Canadian law enforcement authorities have monitored Kanaka Arasaratnam, editor/owner of "Thamilar Senthamarai" raising funds to secure the release of Swiss LTTE chief of Muralidaran Nadarajah alias "Swiss Murali". The assistant editors of "Thamilar Senthamarai" are his wife Raji and Selva.

According to Canadian law enforcement authorities, a prominent LTTE activist Nimalaranjan alias IN Ranjan, a native of LTTE leader Prabakarans home town Velvettiturai (VVT), has worked with Kanaka Arasaratnam. Although the article can be dismissed as being a comical farce, it is clearly aimed at provoking the lunatic fringe in both the Sinhala and Tamil societies. The newspaper sold out in Toronto as the news spread through the Tamil community of an imminent "death threat" to LTTE supporters from "Sinhalese". The article attempts to provoke ex-JVP Sinhala radicals against Dr Rohan Gunaratna by alleging that he was responsible for the capture of their former leader.

It is also significant that the "Thamilar Senthamarai" article falsely attempts to link me to the Americans, as an employee of the American Embassy in Colombo and as being now resident in United States from where the alleged "death threat" to the LTTE supporters is supposed to originate. The LTTE has been listed as a foreign Terrorist group by the US State Department.

The LTTE have a history of intimidating Sri Lankan and foreign journalists who have exposed their activity both in Sri Lanka and abroad. In the early 1990ās the Canadian Tamil journalist DBS Jeyaraj was assaulted by a group of pro-LTTE thugs with baseball bats and had to be hospitalised with broken legs and scull. He was continuously subjected to death threats and intimidation because of his journalistic exposure of LTTE activity. Later his newspaper "Muncharie" had to be closed down as a result of LTTE action.

A report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) 2000/04 dated 3rd May 2000 (http://www.csis-scrs.gc.ca/eng/miscdocs/200004e.html) titled INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM: THE THREAT TO CANADA highlights this incident under the heading "Manipulating members of ƒmigrŽ Communities". It states "In December 1995, retailers of a Tamil publication critical of the LTTE faced intimidation tactics. Shopkeepers were warned through anonymous threats not to carry the magazine, Muncharie, and at least one advertiser received harassing letters and phone calls. Toronto police arrested one man for beating a Scarborough shopkeeper and stealing copies of the paper. The editor of the magazine was eventually compelled to suspend publication due to the threats."

This year Stewart Bell, a journalist of the National Post, a major daily newspaper in Canada also received death threats, threats of violence and they even went to the extent of phoning his mother and wife and calling them whores.

While criticising the press restrictions of the Sri Lankan state in the conflict zones in Sri Lanka and pretending to champion the cause of press freedom, the LTTE is violating the freedom of speech and press freedom in both Sri Lanka and abroad. This includes intimidating journalists based in Canada and the United Kingdom. Continued abuse in these fields by LTTE activists leads one to believe that the cry of Tamil nationalists on matters of human rights and press freedom is not based on genuine concern to uplift the quality of life of Sri Lankans, but to abuse the concepts of "Human Rights" and "Press Freedom" and to misuse them as weapons of war against the Sri Lankan state and to justify terrorism.

Copies of the malicious article in "Thamilar Senthamarai" have been circulated to several law enforcement agencies, including RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), Tamil Task Force, CSIS (Canadian Security and Intelligence Service), the FBI ( Federal Bureau of Investigations in the United States) and New Scotland Yard in the UK and the matter in relation to defamation and publication with intent to cause grievous bodily harm is being investigated.