Three arrested in UK for 'funding Tamil Tigers'

Three men have been arrested in dawn raids by counter-terrorism police in London and Wales in connection with an investigation into the Tamil Tigers separatists.

The arrests were made in connection with allegations that money, equipment and weapons manuals have been stock-piled for use by the rebels in Sri Lanka.

The Tamil Tigers, who have been fighting a 30-year war against the Sri Lankan government, are a proscribed organisation in Britain under the Terrorism Act.

Raids took place at three residential properties and one business in Newtown, Powys, one residential and one business address in Mitcham, South London and one further address in Harrow, North West London.

Two men, aged 39 and 46, were arrested at separate addresses in Newtown, and a third, aged 33, was held in Mitcham.

All three men were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism and have been transferred to the high security Paddington Green police station in central London for questioning.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “At 6.30am today officers from Counter Terrorism Command supported by Dyfed-Powys Police executed search warrants at a number of residential and business addresses in Newtown, Powys.

“Further warrants were executed at addresses in Mitcham and Surrey. Three men were arrested.

“This is part of a long-term investigation into alleged funding and procurement activity in support of terrorism overseas and two people have already been charged in connection with this investigation.

“It is not linked to al Qaida-type activity or inspired terrorism. It is in relation to support, procurement and fundraising for a proscribed organisation, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers).”

The latest arrests were made as part of an investigation into two other men from South London who face trial later this year.

One of the men is accused of arranging meetings of the Tamil Tigers and addressing an event in Hyde Park, central London.

He is also accused of amassing a hoard of military equipment including machetes, combat boots, camouflage clothes, spades, handcuffs and weapons manuals.

Last November, the renegade Tamil Tiger leader Colonel Karuna Amman was arrested in a joint operation by British police and immigration officials in Kensington, West London.

He had arrived using a diplomatic passport under a false name, which he said was supplied by the Sri Lankan Government, and was sentenced to nine months for holding false identity documents.

There have also been allegations that the Tamil Tigers have used a network of petrol stations across Britain to skim credit cards, using the proceeds to fund their activities abroad.

A Dyfed Powys Police spokesman said: “We would like to reassure our communities that arrests of this nature in the force area are rare and they should not be unduly alarmed.

“The investigation is not linked to al Qaida and we don’t believe there was a risk to the local community. We would like to stress that this inquiry relates to alleged fundraising and procurement in support of terrorism overseas.

“We have the neighbourhood, local officers and the mobile police station in the Newtown area in a bid to keep the community informed and reassured.”

The LTTE 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.

The conflict is rooted in a rivalry between the predominantly Hindu Tamils and the largely Buddhist Sinhalese, who control the Sri Lankan Government, with Sri Lanka’s Muslim community caught in the middle.

More than 70,000 people have died in more than three decades of fighting and thousands have been forced to leave their homes.

The LTTE has conducted dozens of suicide bombings, conducted by a special arm of the organisation called the Black Tigers.

Last year saw a clampdown on the LTTE, which is banned in more than 30 countries, with arrests in Britain, France and the US.

Source: telegraph