Tamil Tiger faction head questioned in Norway - Sri Lankan media

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Tamil Tiger faction head questioned in Norway - Sri Lankan media

20 May 2011 14:12

* Norway declines to confirm identity

* Questioning related to Dutch-led fundraising probe

* Norway-Sri Lanka ties remain fraught post-war

By C. Bryson Hull

COLOMBO, May 20 (Reuters) - A Sri Lankan-born Tamil has been questioned in Norway as part of a Dutch probe into extortion by the Tamil Tigers and Sri Lankan media on Friday identified him as the leader of one the defeated separatist group's most powerful remaining factions.

Sri Lankan media said that Perinbanayagam Sivaparan, also known as Nedivayan, was taken for questioning before a Norwegian court at the request of a visiting Dutch judicial team looking into extortion by the remnants of the Tamil Tigers.

Sri Lankan forces crushed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May 2009, ending their three-decade armed campaign on the Indian Ocean island to establish a separate nation for Sri Lanka's minority Tamils.

The LTTE routinely extorted a "war tax" from Tamils abroad by threatening to harm their relatives in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's government says one of two remaining LTTE factions is led by Nedivayan, and accuses it of raising funds to restart the war.

Norway's foreign ministry, in a statement released through the embassy in Colombo, declined to identify the individual, but confirmed that a person of Sri Lankan origin was questioned in a Norwegian court.

"The individual was interviewed as a witness at the request of Dutch authorities regarding a case currently being investigated in the Netherlands," the statement said.

Norway's biggest private television, TV2, said an unidentified Norway-based Tamil gave evidence on Wednesday to Dutch authorities in a closed-door hearing about terrorist financing.

Sri Lankan-born journalist D.B.S. Jeyaraj, based in Canada and long considered by diplomats in Sri Lanka one of the foremost authorities on the LTTE, reported on his website dbsjeyaraj.com that the individual questioned was Nedivayan.

Nedivayan could not be reached for comment.

Colombo-Oslo ties have been fraught for years, after Norway brokered a 2002 ceasefire with the Tigers that fell apart and led to the final fight that destroyed the LTTE. Sri Lanka's accuses it of aiding the LTTE, which Norway denies.

LTTE FUNDRAISING

Security experts believed the LTTE at its peak brought in as much as $300 million annually via fundraising, extortion, smuggling, credit card fraud and legitimate front businesses.

Sri Lanka has long complained that Western governments ignored such activity under their noses by a group that was on U.S, U.N. and European Union terrorism lists.

The United States, Canada and several European countries over the past five years have brought prosecutions against LTTE associates for crimes related either to violating terrorism financing laws or extortion and weapons smuggling.

The LTTE's remnants have split into two factions, intelligence officials and diplomats say, with Nedivayan believed to head the Europe-based one that advocates armed struggle and has control of major LTTE financial assets.

The other has styled itself as the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, and says its aim is the peaceful establishment of a Tamil nation -- or Tamil Eelam -- through elected representation among members of the Tamil diaspora worldwide.

Tamil Tiger faction head questioned in Norway-Sri Lankan media - AlertNet

 

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Call for LTTE ban in Norway

SATURDAY, 21 MAY 2011 09:30

Norway must follow the European Union and proscribe the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) in the country says a Norwegian parliamentarian. Chairman of the Defence and Security committee of the opposition Conservative Party, Peter Gitmark says that it is wrong to allow the Tamil Tigers to operate in Norway.

Confirming the recent detention of a leading LTTE activist by the Norwegian police, the MP says Perimpanayagam Sivaparan, also known as Nediyawan is wanted by the police of the Netherlands.

"We have an investigative team coming from the Netherlands to question him. I also hope the Norwegian police would be able to interrogate this man to shed information on the LTTE activities in the Norway", said Gitmark.

"LTTE was a major player in the civil war in Sri Lanka. UN report on the civil war has condemned both the government and the LTTE in the strongest of words when it comes to war crimes".

He also claimed that there are recent reports of LTTE illegal fundraising in the Norway.

"I think it is not in the interest of the people of Sri Lanka for the LTTE to raise money in Norway and other places to renew its violent struggle against the government of Sri Lanka." The Conservative Party MP told the BBC.

UN report on the civil war has condemned both the government and the LTTE in the strongest of words when it comes to war crimes

"There had been numerous recent reports on the LTTE raising money in the Norway. I have urged the Norwegian police to take immediate action to see if this is the case and if that is the case to punish the responsible".

Dutch police however had not revealed the details of the interrogation of Nediyawan.

In April 2010, Police in Netherlands arrested several Tamil community leaders in the country.

Computers, paperwork, phones, documents, photos, DVDs and a sum totalling more than 40,000 Euros were seized.

"Among the suspects are the leaders of various organisations of Tamils in the Netherlands, which probably play a role in the international network of the LTTE," the justice ministry said in a statement.

Leaders of the Tamil Co-ordinating Committee (TCC), the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), the Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO), the Tamil Women Organisation (TWO) and the Tamil Arts and Cultural Organization Netherlands (TKCO), are believed to be among the suspects.

Norwegian parliamentarian Peter Gitmark also blamed the government of Sri Lanka for continues violation of human rights.

Call for LTTE ban in Norway | Breaking News