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Website: www.sluna.org E-mail: sluna@idirect.com
MEDIA RELEASE January 6, 2007
TAMIL TIGER TERRORISTS TARGET CIVILIANS IN SRI LANKA
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has attacked civilian
passenger traffic in Nittambuwa and Seenigama in the south of Sri Lanka on the
last two days, targeting ordinary civilians from the Sinhalese community
travelling in buses, killing 21 and seriously injuring a large number said to
be in excess of 50 persons. The bus at
Nittambuwa was attacked with a time bomb hidden inside whilst the other attack
on the bus at Seenigama has been carried out by a woman suicide bomber. Not surprisingly, the LTTE as usual denies
any involvement to plead their innocence in keeping with their standard
response to absolve themselves of any wrongdoing, which does not in any way
fool the knowledgeable observer.
Details of the incidents could be accessed at the following
websites: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070106/wl_nm/srilanka_attack_dc_4;
and
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/06/asia/AS-GEN-Sri-Lanka.php.
The LTTE which launched their so called final war in 2005 to forcibly carve out territory from Sri Lanka to establish their mono-ethnic Tamil racist separate state called “Eelam” in the north and east, comprising 30 percent of the land and 66 percent of the coastline and adjacent territorial waters for Tamils residing in the region making up around 3.5 percent, which is less than half of the total Tamil community numbering about 8 percent of the island’s population. They escalated their offensives in December 2005, but suffered serious set-backs as their numerous assaults on land and sea were effectively repulsed by Sri Lanka’s security forces, causing the loss of a large number of their cadres and loss of terrain illegally held by them.
The funds extorted from the Tamil Diaspora, arms smuggled with these
funds and a large force of terrorist fighters comprising a high percentage of
child soldiers who had been abducted and forcibly recruited were all lost in
this military adventure that was launched, whilst claiming to adhere to the
prevailing ceasefire agreement. It is in this context that we see the Tamil Tigers
resorting to the use of civilians as human shields whilst carrying out mortar
and artillery attacks against the security forces and innocent villagers,
conducting ethnic cleansing massacres of Sinhalese and Muslims, abducting
underage children for forcible recruitment and targeting ordinary people using
public transit, transgressing all norms of engagement and seriously violating
the human rights of people going about their day to day activities. Strangely, the international human rights
advocates and other foreign based INGO’s and foreign funded NGO’s who have been
frequently voicing support to the LTTE probably because they too advance a two
state solution as sought by the LTTE are noticeably silent and very late in
condemning these atrocities.
The world should wake up to the danger posed by the Tamil Tiger Terrorists who are not only a threat to Sri Lanka, but a threat to the rest of the international community, as they continue to smuggle narcotics into their territories and also provide suicide technology and weapons to other designated terror groups. Extracts of recent news items given below clearly shows the threat posed by the LTTE:
“(LeN-Nov24, 1.30pm) Reports from Costa Rica in Central America said that a strange locally fabricated submarine transporting three tons of Cocaine was caught by authorities with a Sri Lankan national Tamil, two Colombians and a Guatemalan. U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents, FBI and Colombian officials aided Costa Rican authorities in the operation, Fernando Berrocal , the Security Minister revealed.”
(Contd./2)
- 2 -
“The Indonesian police arrested a
Sri Lankan Tamil wanted in the United States for allegedly smuggling arms for
use in terrorist attacks in New York, on Thursday the 3rd of January, many
international media repots said. Pratheepan Thavarajah, 32, was arrested on
Thursday at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta just as he was
boarding a flight to Kuala Lumpur, national police spokesman Anton Bahrul Alam
told reporters. It has been further
revealed that the suspect has been the main arms dealer for the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam or the LTTE, one of the world’s most ruthless terrorist
organization. A court in New York has
issued an order for the arrest of Thavarajah on arms smuggling conviction. If
found guilty in arms smuggling and abetting terrorism, the suspect could face
15 years in Prison according to the US laws.”
We call on all states to take
effective measures to closely monitor the LTTE’s operations, and ensure that
their fundraising and illegal activities are stamped out in the interest of
peace and security everywhere.
Yours very truly,
Mahinda Gunasekera
Honorary President