Tamil charities raided
 

by Natasha Robinson

Federal police have launched a second series of raids on charities suspected of raising money in Australia to fund terrorist attacks by the LTTE.

Australian Federal Police agents raided the Sydney home of a Tamil Sri Lankan suspected of having links to the Tigers one week after similar raids in Melbourne.

The targets of the police investigations are understood to be members of the Tamil Co-ordinating Committee, a charity suspected of channelling tsunami relief funds to the LTTE.

In Sydney, the federal police raid was understood to target a member of a charity, the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation, which collected $1.1 million in donations following last year's tsunami.

An AFP spokeswoman confirmed that on November 30 a search warrant was issued, but police would not reveal the location of the raid. It is understood nobody was arrested.

The day after the Melbourne raids, Sri Lanka's Deputy High Commissioner, Asoka Girihagama, said the Sri Lankan Government had warned Australian counterparts that money collected by the charity after the tsunami might have been used to fund the Tigers.