Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

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Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Leader	Velupillai Prabhakaran
Dates of operation	1972 - present
Motives	The creation of a separate Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka
Active regions	Sri Lanka India
Ideology	Tamil nationalism
Major actions	Numerous suicide bombings, attacks against civilians, use of child soldiers, acts of ethnic cleansing, illegal drug trade, torture
Notable attacks	Central bank bombing, Palliyagodella massacre, Dehiwala train bombing
Status	Runs de facto unrecognized state, banned as a terrorist organization by 32 countries

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers, is a militant Tamil nationalist organization that has waged a violent secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s in order to create a separate Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). The LTTE is currently proscribed as a terrorist organisation by 32 countries (see list). It is headed by its founder, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Organization and activities

Structure

The LTTE is organized into two main divisions namely, a military wing and a subordinate political wing. A central governing body oversees both of those divisions, which is headed by the LTTE supreme leader, Velupillai Prabakaran.

Military

In the LTTE, recruits are instructed to be prepared to die for the cause, and are issued with a cyanide capsule to be swallowed in the case of capture. The LTTE also has a special squad of suicide bombers, called the Black Tigers, which it deploys for critical missions.

The military wing contains following specific subdivisions, which are directly controlled and directed by the central governing body:

Sea Tigers - an amphibious warfare unit focusing on utilization of naval firepower and logistics, mainly consisting lightweight boats.
Air Tigers - an airborne group, consisting several lightweight aircraft. It is known to be the world's first air force owned controlled by an organization proscribed as terrorists.
Black Tigers - a suicide commando unit, responsible for large scale bomb attacks and the assassination of many political leaders.
A intelligence unit which is operated internationally.
A political office.

Administrative

Even though the LTTE was formed as a military group, it also carries out a number of civilian functions. The LTTE controls sections in the north of the island, especially the regions lying around the cities of Killinochchi and Mulathivu. However, it still uses the Sri Lanka rupee and many civil servants are paid by the Sri Lankan government, even in areas controlled by the LTTE. Most of the structures supporting these functions were developed during the period immediately after the IPKF's withdrawal, when the LTTE controlled Jaffna without significant opposition, due to the ceasefire agreement of the time. During this period, it transformed itself from a purely military body to a quasi-government, complete with administrative organs. Among these are:

A broadcasting authority called the Voice of Tigers
A judicial Service including a court service and a public prosecution system.
A Police force
A banking system
A "customs" agency

Although it no longer controls Jaffna, these structures continue to form the basis on which it runs the areas it does control. The LTTE's administrative agencies are integrated into the organization's overall chain of command. The LTTE's quasi-government is run on socialist principles. For example, all litigants before a civil court are required to pay a fine for failing to settle their dispute amicably. In recent years, the LTTE has sought wider recognition for its administrative organs. After the Boxing Day tsunami, it has sought to ensure that aid to the areas under its control is routed through its own administrative agencies. It tried to enter into an agreement, called the P-TOMS, with the government of Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga that would have given them credibility with foreign governments. The agreement was bitterly opposed by hardliners in the Sri Lankan government and some moderates, and it never saw implementation.

Political

The LTTE also has a political wing, but despite the ceasefire it has not tried to formally create a political party. Instead, in the 2004 parliamentary elections, it openly supported the Tamil National Alliance, which won over 90% of votes in the electoral district of Jaffna, in the Northern Province, although just 47% the total population cast their votes.

The LTTE's commitment to multi-party democracy has also been questioned. In an interview in 1986, Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the LTTE, said that a future state of Tamil Eelam would be a one-party state rather than a multi-party democracy, because that would help it develop faster. He has not repeated this proposal, and the LTTE's main ideologue, Anton Balasingham, publicly repudiated this position in 1992, stating that it was irrelevant after the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, the LTTE's critics state that it indicates their way of thinking, and point out that it has not organized, and shows no signs of organizing, local elections in the areas it controls.

Dissension

Mahattaya, a one time the deputy leader of the LTTE, was accused of treason by the LTTE and killed in 1994. He is said to have collaborated with the Indian Research and Analysis Wing to remove Prabhakaran from the LTTE leadership.

In the biggest show of dissent from within the organization, a senior LTTE commander named Colonel Karuna (nom de guerre of Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan) broke away from the LTTE in March 2004 and formed the TamilEela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal amid allegations that the northern commanders were overlooking the needs of the eastern Tamils. The LTTE leadership accused him of mishandling of funds and questioned him about his recent personal behavior. He tried to take control of the eastern province from the LTTE, which caused clashes between the LTTE and TEMVP. The LTTE has suggested that TEMVP is backed by the government, and the Nordic SLMM monitors have corroborated this.

After the election of president Mahinda Rajapakshe, the LTTE lost control of the Eastern province of the island. This victory to the Sri Lankan forces is some what attributed to the fact that Col. Karuna's dissension and his actions against the LTTE in the province. As of September 2007 Col. Karuna has said that he would disarm once the government of Sri Lanka is able to guarantee the security of his factions.

Status of women

The LTTE advocates equality for women, and has a large number of female recruits. Female members are believed to make up between 20 to 30 percent of the LTTE's fighting cadre. The Women's Wing of the LTTE is known as Suthanthirap Paravaikal (or "Freedom Birds"). The first woman combatant to die was 2nd Lt. Malathi, on October 10, 1987, in an encounter with the IPKF at Kopai in Jaffna peninsula. An estimated 4000 women cadres have been killed since then, including over a hundred in 'Black Tiger' suicide squads. The assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the attempt on President Chandrika Kumaranatunga and the 2006 attempt on the Sri Lanka Army commander are notable instances where female LTTE cadres launched suicide attacks.

Links to other designated terrorist organizations

International experts have long suspected the existence of connections between the LTTE and other internationally designated terrorist organizations including al-Qaeda. These connections came under more detailed scrutiny as a result of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Some of the incidents cited to prove these suspicions include

The similarities between previous LTTE attacks against Sri Lanka Navy ships and the al-Qaeda attack on the USS Cole which killed 17 US Navy sailors.
Evidence that the LTTE provided forged passports to Ramzi Yousef, the man who carried out the first attack against the World Trade Center in New York in 1993.
Increasing intelligence reports that the LTTE was smuggling arms to various terrorist organizations, including to Islamics in Pakistan to their counterparts in the Philippines, using their covert smuggling networks, and findings by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies that they were building commercial links with al-Qaeda and other militants in Afghanistan.
Allegations that the LTTE stole Norwegian passports and sold them to the al-Qaeda organization to earn money to fund their arms purchases.

Other security experts including Glen Jenvey, a specialist on international terrorism, have also claimed that al-Qaeda has copied most of its terror tactics from the LTTE. He highlighted the LTTE as the mastermind that sets the pattern for organizations like al-Qaeda to pursue. Some of the comparisons he used to draw his conclusions are:

The LTTE invented the modern suicide bomber and deployed it against political, military, and civilian targets. Islamic groups copied the LTTE by carrying out similar suicide attacks. But LTTE have no affiliation to any religious groups.
The LTTE continuously attacks shipping off the coast of Sri Lanka by blowing ships up or by acts of piracy. Attacks on the USS Cole off Yemen and piracy off the coast of Somalia, a stronghold for al-Qaeda followers, followed and possibly copied the LTTE tactics.
The LTTE attack on the World Trade Centre in Sri Lanka was followed by attacks by al-Qaeda on the World Trade Center in New York.
The LTTE's use of a women's section has being copied by al-Qaeda and Chechen terrorists, for example the "Black Widows" who played a role in the Moscow theater hostage crisis and have carried out suicide bombings.
Attacks on civilians in buses and trains in Sri Lanka are similar to the al-Qaeda attacks on public civilian transport during the July 2005 bombings in London.

Human rights and terrorism issues

Main articles: List of terrorist attacks attributed to the LTTE and Notable attacks attributed to the LTTE

The LTTE is labeled as a terrorist organization as part of a broader allegation that it does not have respect for human rights and that it does not adhere to the standards of conduct expected of a resistance movement or what might be called "freedom fighters". The accusation of terrorism is based in part on claims that the LTTE kills innocent civilians, recruits child soldiers, has been responsible for assassination of political figures and non-military officials, and extensively uses suicide bombers.

Attacks on civilians

Main article: List of terrorist attacks attributed to the LTTE

The LTTE has attacked non-military targets including commuter trains and buses, farming villages, temples and mosques resulting in large numbers of civilian deaths.

Some of the major attacks resulting in dozens of civilian deaths include the Kebithigollewa massacre, the Gonagala massacre (54 dead), the Anuradhapura massacre (146 dead), the Dehiwala train bombing (56 dead), the Palliyagodella massacre (166 dead) and the bombing of Sri Lanka's Central Bank (102 dead). The LTTE claims that its attacks on purely civilian targets are collateral damage.

Even after the signing of the Ceasefire agreement in 2002, the LTTE has continued to carry out attacks against civilians. They murdered 6 Sinhalese farmers on April 23, 2006 and killed a further 13 laborers on May 30. In one of the deadliest attacks against civilians, a claymore antipersonnel mine attack by the LTTE on June 15, 2006 on a bus carrying 140 civilians killed 68 people including 15 children, and injured 60 others.

On August 14, 2006, a convoy carrying the Pakistani High Commissioner Bashir Wali Mohamed, was attacked by Claymore type directional mine concealed within a rickshaw, killing seven people and injuring seventeen. The high commissioner escaped unharmed. The Sri Lankan Government blamed the LTTE.. However, the High Commissioner Bashir Wali Mohamed himself claimed that this was the work of the Research and Analysis Wing of India

Assassinations

Main article: Assassinations attributed to the LTTE

The LTTE has long been accused of carrying assassinations of political rivals and opponents. These include:

Alfred Duraiyappah, mayor of Jaffna in the attack that brought them to prominence in 1975
Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India in 1991
Ranjan Wijeratne, Sri Lankan cabinet minister and former general
Lalith Athulathmudali, Sri Lankan cabinet minister
Ranasinghe Premadasa, President of Sri Lanka
Gamini Dissanayake, Sri Lankan presidential candidate
Major Gen. Parami Kulatunga, third-highest ranking officer in the Sri Lankan Army
Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan foreign minister, lawyer and international humanitarian.

Indian courts have issued international warrants to arrest both Velupillai Prabhakaran and its intelligence chief Pottu Amman in connection with the killing of Rajiv Gandhi. The LTTE at first denied any involvement, but later issued a statement in June 2006 acknowledging it and calling the event a "monumental tragedy."

The LTTE has also been accused of killing moderate Tamils and other Tamils with whom it disagrees, such as:

Appapillai Amirthalingam, leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF)
Vettivelu Yogeswaran, TULF politician
Sarojini Yogeswaran, mayor of Jaffna
Pon Sivapalan, mayor of Jaffna
Neelan Thiruchelvam, academic and TULF politician
Kethesh Loganathan, political activist and second chief of Sri Lanka Peace Secretariat
Selliah Parameswaran Kurukkal a Hindu priest that blessed Mahinda Rajapakse

The LTTE has vehemently denied involvement in several of these incidents. Others argue these are tit-for-tat killings conducted by partisans of both sides of the conflict. The LTTE argues the Sri Lankan government and government-aided paramilitaries have also targeted high-profile supporters of the LTTE.

LTTE supporters justify some of the targeted assassinations by arguing that the people attacked were combatants or persons closely associated with Sri Lankan military intelligence. Specifically in relation to the TELO, the LTTE has said that it had to perform preemptive self-defence because the TELO was in effect functioning as a proxy for India. They also draw comparisons between the casualties caused by the LTTE's actions and the actions of European resistance forces against Nazi occupation during the Second World War. However, the LTTE's alleged victims have included unarmed Tamil politicians and civilian moderates who sought a peaceful solution to the Sri Lankan crisis.

Child soldiers

Main article: Military use of children in Sri Lanka

The LTTE's use of children as front-line troops was proved when 25 front-line troops between the ages of 13 and 17 surrendered en masse to the Sri Lankan Forces. Amid international pressure, LTTE announced in July 2003 that it would stop conscripting child soldiers, but both UNICEF and Human Rights Watch have accused it of reneging on its promises, and of conscripting Tamil children orphaned by the tsunami. Civilians have also complained that the LTTE is continuing to abduct children, including some in their early teens, for use as soldiers. Moreover UNICEF states that the LTTE has recruited 315 child soldiers between April and December 2006. According to UNICEF, the total number of child soldiers recruited by the LTTE since 2001 stands at 5,794.

The LTTE, however, strongly denies any responsibility for recruitment of child soldiers. It argues that instances of child recruitment occurred mostly in the east, under the purview of former LTTE regional commander Colonel Karuna. After leaving the LTTE and forming the TMVP, it is alleged Karuna continues to forcibly kidnap and induct child soldiers. Its official position is that earlier, some of its cadres erroneously recruited volunteers in their late teens. It says that its official policy is now that it will not accept child soldiers. It also says that some underage youth lie about their age and are therefore allowed to join, but are sent back home to their parents as soon as they are discovered to be underage.

Suicide bombing

The LTTE has frequently used suicide bombers as a tactic. They pioneered the use of concealed suicide bomb vests, which are now used by many other organizations worldwide. The tactic of deploying suicide bombers was used to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed in 1991 using a prototype suicide vest, and Ranasinghe Premadasa, assassinated in 1993.

According to Jane's Information Group, between 1980 and 2000 LTTE had carried out a total of 168 suicide attacks on civilians and military targets. The number of suicide attacks easily exceeded the combined total of Hezbollah and Hamas suicide attacks conducted out during the same period.

Ethnic cleansing

Main articles: Expulsion of Muslims from Jaffna and List of terrorist attacks attributed to the LTTE

The LTTE has been blamed for forcibly removing (or "ethnically cleansing" ) Sinhalese and Muslim inhabitants from areas under its control, including the use of violence against those who refuse to leave. Most notably, the LTTE forcibly expelled the entire Muslim population of Jaffna with two hours notice in 1990. The LTTE are also accused of organising massacres of Sinhala villagers who settled in the Northeast under the dry lands policy.

The LTTE has apologized for the expulsion of Muslims and has blamed this event on the misconduct of one of its regional commanders. However these expulsions had taken place in Jaffna where the supreme leadership of the LTTE was based. It is therefore unlikely that these expulsions were planned at a local level. Furthermore no punitive action was taken against those who expelled the Muslims from Jaffna. The LTTE has taken the added step of encouraging Muslim civilians to return their homes and livelihoods and providing compensation. However very few Muslims have accepted this offer.

The LTTE feels the expulsion of Sinhalese civilian from the North East of Sri Lanka is a necessary step to safeguard the rights of the Tamil minority. The LTTE alleges that most of the North East lands were originally owned by Tamils, who were forcibly evicted to make way for government-aided Sinhala colonization schemes. These schemes, they argue were created with the sole intent of making Tamil civilians a minority in their traditional homelands and hence a means to further deprive them of their rights under the present district-based unitary political system. However, Muslims and Sinhalese have formed over half of the population of the East province throughout recent history. Furthermore, the existence of archaeological evidence shows that the Sinhalese have inhabited both the Eastern Province and the Northern Province for over two thousand years. In fact, most of the place names in the north and east of Sri Lanka are of Sinhalese origin. Scholars acknowledge the existence of a Tamil kingdom in Jaffna for about 300 years from around 1200-1500 CE, but there is no evidence of a Tamil kingdom in the Eastern province. Therefore, the basis for the LTTE's claim of the Eastern province as a traditional homeland of the Tamils remains contentious.

Execution of POWs

The LTTE have executed prisoners of war in spite of a declaration by the LTTE in 1988 that it would abide by the Geneva Conventions. Notably, the LTTE massacred most of the 400 to 600 police officers captured after their surrender to the LTTE in 1990. The LTTE also executed 200 Sri Lankan soldiers captured during an attack on the Pooneryn army camp, and hundreds of soldiers who had surrendered during the attack on the Mullaitivu army camp.

Allegation of Extortion

Some people alleged that a group claiming to be "fund raisers for the LTTE" forced the Tamil expatriates to give them money. The group threatening the safety of their relatives or property in areas of Sri Lanka. This involves pressuring the people to directly give the group money, or to indirectly fund its activities by patronizing businesses connected with it (La 2004). Although intelligence services have raised concerns about such activities, which are particularly controversial in Canada, few formal complaints have been made. During raids by the RCMP, the World Tamil Movement (alleged of funding the LTTE) was found coordinating a number of illegal activities in order to control the Tamil diaspora in Canada. A report by Human Rights Watch outlines the intimidation and extortion Tamil expatriates experience from the LTTE.

However, several pro-LTTE Tamil associations, from various countries mentioned in the report, have called into question the veracity and accuracy of the HRW report.

Proscription as a terrorist group

At least 32 countries have listed the LTTE as a terrorist organisation. As of May 2007, these include:

India (since 1992)
The United States of America (since 1997)
Malaysia
The United Kingdom (since 2000)
The European Union (since 2006; representing 27 countries)
Canada (since 2006)

The UN has also passed Resolution 1373, asking member countries to identify and limit activities of any organization that carries out terrorist activities. The UN has not published its own list of terrorist groups, and has left their identification to the discretion of member countries. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan also suggested that the LTTE should face travel curbs and other penalties if they keep using children as soldiers. In a 2006 report to the Security Council, Annan also recommended other sanctions such as arms embargoes and financial restrictions against the LTTE. Australia and other countries have listed the LTTE as a terrorist group in accordance with Resolution 1373. Canada does not grant residency to LTTE members on the grounds that they have participated in crimes against humanity.

The first country to ban the LTTE was its early ally, India. The Indian change of policy came gradually, starting with the IPKF-LTTE conflict, and culminating with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Sri Lanka itself lifted the ban on the LTTE before signing the ceasefire agreement in 2002. This was a prerequisite set by the LTTE for signing of the agreement. However the agreement was not withheld by the LTTE, they continued terrorist like activities against the Sri Lankan Government.

Criminal activities

One factor that has benefited the LTTE greatly has been its sophisticated international support network. While some of the funding obtained by the LTTE is from legitimate fund raising and extortion among the Tamil diaspora, a significant portion is obtained through criminal activities, involving sea piracy, human smuggling, drug trafficking and gunrunning.

Sea piracy

The LTTE are reported to hijack ships and boats of all sizes, and it is common practice for them to kidnap and kill the crew members on board the hijacked vessels.

The LTTE has been accused of hijacking several vessels in waters outside Sri Lanka including the Irish Mona (in August 1995), Princess Wave (in August 1996), Athena (in May 1997), Misen (in July 1997), Morong Bong (in July 1997), MV Cordiality (in Sept 1997) and Princess Kash (in August 1998). When the LTTE captured the MV Cordiality near the port of Trincomalee, they killed all five Chinese crew members on board. The MV Sik Yang, a 2,818-ton Malaysian-flag cargo ship which sailed from Tuticorin, India on May 25, 1999 was reported missing in waters near Sri Lanka. The ship with a cargo of bagged salt was due at the Malaysian port of Malacca on May 31. The fate of the ship's crew of 15 is unknown. It is suspected that the vessel was hijacked by the LTTE and is now been used as a phantom vessel. A report published on June 30, 1999 confirmed that the vessel had been hijacked by the LTTE.

MV Farah III incident

In a notable incident since the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement in 2001, the crew of a Jordanian ship, MV Farah III that ran aground near rebel-controlled territory off the island's coast, accused the Tamil Tigers of forcing them to abandon the vessel which was carrying 14,000 tonnes of Indian rice and risking their lives. The crew said that LTTE fired four times to force them out of the vessel after failing to explode it in choppy seas three days ago. The skipper of the vessel said;

"First they tried to set up a bomb and explode the anchor cable and when it failed they ordered us to weigh anchor"

He also said that the Tigers dismantled and removed all radio communication equipment and radar from the vessel. On May 1, 2007 Sayed Sulaiman, the chairman of the ship's owners, Salam International Trading Company gave an interview to the BBC Tamil service, saying,

"We hear from the parties who are concerned with the ship, the insurance company etc., that ... everything that could be taken – like the rice, lights, generators – has been taken from the ship. The ship is now bare."

File:DN-Frontpage-10-16-07.jpg

On October 16, 2007 the New York Daily News reported the arrest of members of the LTTE in a massive plot to loot ATMs in New York City.

Pilferage of tsunami donations

In May 2007, two Tamils were arrested in Australia. They were charged for raising thousands of dollars in Australia under the pretense of being for charities and aid for those affected by the 2004 Asian Tsunami, which killed 35,000 people in Sri Lanka, but instead using the money to fund the LTTE. Australian Federal Police conducted raids across Melbourne and Sydney and charged the two men with "being members of a terrorist group, financing terrorism and providing material support for terrorism". The Australian Federal Police alleged that the men have provided significant funds as well as electronic and marine equipment to the Tamil Tigers since July 2002. Commenting on the possibility of the LTTE engaging in other similar incidents, Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said "We are concerned that that sort of thing is taking place in Australia, that Australian citizens are being duped into making contributions to what they believe to be honest fundraising activities in terms of relief for people in distress.".

Human smuggling

The Mackenzie Institute alleged that most of the smuggling of Tamil people to Western countries is done under the permission of the LTTE. However, there is no proof that LTTE benefit from this. It further alleged that the people who are leaving Sri Lanka from Tamil Tigers controlled areas pay a few hundred dollars as a forced contribution to the LTTE. In addition to this, people with special skills or a greater wealth than ordinary Tamils may have to pay thousands of dollars to be entitled to leave.

Research done by the Mackenzie Institute, an independent Canadian based think tank, revealed another industry the LTTE is involved in is the forced prostitution of Tamil women who are being smuggled to other countries. In the mid 1990s some Sri Lankan women were abused or raped while being smuggled towards Canada by the LTTE, and some were deliberately stranded in Thailand and forced into prostitution there.

Arms smuggling

Another one of LTTE's most secretive International operations is the smuggling of weapons, explosives, and "dual use" technologies to keep up with the military operations. The part of the LTTE responsible for these activities is given the nickname "KP Branch", taking the initials of its highest level operative, Kumaran Padmanathan (KP). The workers for the KP Branch are outsiders from the fighting wing of the LTTE, since the identities of the those fighters are recorded and available to law enforcement and counter-intelligence agencies by India's RAW, who had helped train many Tiger cadres in the early 1980s. The KP Branch operates extremely secretively by having the minimum connection possible with the LTTE's other sections for further security. It finally hands over the arms shipments to a highly trusted team of the sea Tigers to deliver them to the LTTE dominated areas.

In order to carryout the activities of International arms trafficking, the LTTE operates it own fleet of ocean-going vessels. These vessels only operate a certain period of time for the LTTE and in the remaining time they transport legitimate goods and raise hard cash for the purchase of weapons. The LTTE initially operated a shipping base in Myanmar, but they were forced to leave due to diplomatic pressure. To overcome the loss of this, a new base has been set up on Phuket Island, in Thailand.

However, the most expertly carried out operation of the KP Branch was the theft of 32,400 rounds of 81mm mortar ammunition purchased from Tanzania for the Sri Lanka Army. Being aware of the purchase of 35,000 mortar bombs, the LTTE made a bid to the manufacturer through a numbered company and arranged a vessel of their own to pick up the load. Once the bombs were loaded into the ship, the LTTE changed the name and registration of their ship. The vessel was taken to Tiger-held territory in Sri Lanka's north instead of transporting it to its intended destination.

The Western countries are the main territory for fund raising activities of the LTTE. The money raised from donations and criminal enterprises are transferred into bank accounts of the Tigers and from there to the accounts of a weapons broker, or, the money is taken by KP operatives themselves. LTTE's need for resources is mostly fulfilled by the Tamils who reside outside Sri Lanka. In 1995, when the LTTE lost Jaffna, their international operatives were ordered to increase, by a massive 50%, the amount raised from Tamils outside of the island.

Other crimes

LTTE has also been accused of committing credit card fraud in a number of countries including India and the United Kingdom. In April 2007, the Sri Lankan High Commission in London also accused the LTTE of being behind a credit card scam; however, a police spokesman said there was no definite link to the LTTE or Sri Lankan gangs. Williams , a writer at US Institute of Peace Press, alleged the LTTE of crimes such as organized crime, social security fraud, counterfeit currency trading, and satellite piracy.

In 2007 the New York Police Department arrested a number of LTTE operatives who were planning to use stolen credit card information to steal $250,000 in New York City, and tens of millions more from ATMs worldwide. Overall, Jane's Intelligence Review reported that the LTTE raise up to $300 million a year through various methods, including international credit card fraud and extortion of Tamil expatriates.

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"Tamil Tigers 'drafting children'". BBC News. January 13, 2005. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
Dan McDougall (January 1, 2006). "Desperate Tamil rebels snatch village children to serve as footsoldiers". The Observer. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Outrage over child soldiers in Sri Lanka
UN plea to Tigers on child troops, BBC News, 14 February 2006 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"Agreements Reached Between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam". Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. February 23, 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ Suicide terrorism: a global threat
DBS Jeyaraj (30 October 2005). "Fifteenth Anniversary of Muslim Expulsion From Jaffna". {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"Sri Lanka chronology". The Guardian. 2003-11-14. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
United Nations High Commission for Human Rights
"Information Bulletin No.4". UTHR(J). 1995-02-13. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
PARANAVITARANA, SENERATH (2001). Inscriptions Of Ceylon. Archaeological Survey Department Sri Lanka. ISBN 955-9264-05-2.
A plea to the LTTE
K T Rajasingham (June 15, 2002), Eelam war - again, Asia Times Online {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
Human rights violations in a context of armed conflict Amnesty International
^ Sri Lanka Human Rights Practices, 1995
Quarter, Giving No
Censorship out: then events unfurled
Rohit William Wadhwaney (May 11, 2006). "Lankan expats 'forced to fund LTTE'". Gulf Times. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Stewart Bell (July 22, 2006). "Alleged LTTE front had voter lists". National Post. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
"LTTE Intimidation and Extortion in the Tamil Diaspora". Human Rights Watch. March 2006.
Sachi Sri Kantha (March 23, 2006). "Dissecting the Semi-fictionalized HRW Report". Association of Tamils of Sri Lanka in the USA.
"Sri Lanka: Human Rights Watch Replies to the Canadian Tamil Congress". Human Rights Watch.
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"MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base".
"U.S. Government".
"South Asia Terrorism Portal".
"UK Government".
"Canadian Government".
"UN seeks Tamil Tiger travel ban". BBC. February 10, 2005. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"Australian Government".
"Canadian Government".
"Ceasefire Agreement". SLMM.
"Lankan expats 'forced to fund LTTE'". Rohit William Wadhwaney. The Gulf Times. 11 May, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
http://www.lankalibrary.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=3064&
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/ltte0306/2.htm
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/ltte0306/1.htm
http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/105
http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items07/220407-7.html
RAND Project Air Force, Beyond al-Qaeda: The Outer Rings of the Terrorist Universe
"US criticises Tamil Tiger smuggling". 12 February, 2003. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"Sri Lankan pleads guilty in Tamil Tigers arms plot". AFP. Channel NewsAsia. May 11, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ Dr Vijay Sakhuja, South Asia Analysis group, SEA PIRACY IN SOUTH ASIA
^ "Jordanian crew slam Tigers for piracy". The Hindu. 26 December, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"Cargo boat 'looted off Sri Lanka'". BBC NEWS. 2007-05-01. Retrieved 2007-05-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ "Tsunami aid to Tigers, says AFP". The Herald Sun. 2007-05-02. Retrieved 2007-05-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^ Other people's wars: A Review of Overseas Terrorism in Canada, John Thompson, The Mackenzie Institute
The Mackenzie Institute, The Sources Directory
http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items07/190807-3.html
^ "Motorists hit by card clone scam" (HTML). Retrieved 2007-03-27. Cite error: The named reference "LCH" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
http://www.redhotcurry.com/news/card_fraud.htm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/22/wtamil122.xml
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1092530
Pat O’Malley, Steven Hutchinson, Actual and Potential Links Between Terrorism and Criminality, Carleton University
Tamil Tiger satellite signals hit
Intelsat shuts down Tiger TV

External links

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Sri Lanka Government websites

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