A woman fighter of the Tamil Tigers takes a shooting position in Sri Lanka in July 2007. AP Photo.
|
|
|
A woman fighter of the Tamil Tigers takes a shooting position in Sri Lanka in July 2007. AP Photo. |
World Terrorist the Tamil Tigers Right here in the U.S.
by Michael Webster: Jan 11, 2008 10:00 AM PST
No, it’s not al Qaeda or Hezbollah or even HAMAS. The group is called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or the Tamil Tigers for short.
Needless to say, the Tamil Tigers are among the most dangerous and deadly extremists in the world. For more than three decades, the group has launched a campaign of violence and bloodshed in Sri Lanka, the island republic off the southern coast of India.
|
The FBI asks "Why should you care"? Certainly because of the suffering and bloodshed that the Tamil Tigers have caused. And because its ruthless tactics have inspired terrorist networks worldwide, including al Qaeda in Iraq. But also because the group has placed operatives right here in our own backyard of the good old USA. Their discreetly raising money to fund its bloody terrorist campaign overseas, including purchases of weapons and explosives.
The U.S. government has designated the Tigers a foreign terrorist organization, so their activities here are illegal. And they're determined to stop them, using the full range of the FBI's investigative and intelligence capabilities.
In April, for example, the FBI struck an important blow when their Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York arrested the alleged U.S. director of the Tigers. The man supposedly held several fundraising events at a church and various public schools in Queens and in northern New Jersey in 2004. He is also accused of arranging high-level meetings between the group’s leaders and U.S. supporters.
Further the FBI reports they also arrested another 11 Tamil Tiger-related suspects in the New York City region. And in Baltimore, following a multi-agency investigation, a pair of Indonesian men pled guilty and were sentenced recently for working with others to export surface to air missiles, state-of-the-art firearms, machine guns, and night vision goggles to the Tigers in Sri Lanka.
The FBI says "You can help by being careful with your donations". Like other terrorists, the Tigers have raised funds under a variety of cover organizations, often by posing as charities. A great deal of money, for example, was raised for the Tigers following the 2004 tsunami that devastated Sri Lanka and many other countries.
The FBI would like you to report any suspicious activities to your local field office or anonymously through the FBI website.
US Senate is unanimous on identifying LTTE as a terrorist organisation (The Island July 1997)
