The LTTE’s al-Qaeda link
Hopefully, the LTTE-al-Qaeda link which
was revealed in our front page lead story yesterday would have the
desired effect of alerting the international community to the wide reach
of the LTTE’s tentacles. Besides, we hope, the world would be driven to
close ranks more concertedly against the notorious terror groups in
question - the LTTE and the al-Qaeda.
We need hardly say that a good part of Asia is cooperating with the
US in its war on terror, which was prompted by the al-Qaeda inspired
hell-fires of September 11.
In the West too, the al-Qaeda is resented by all liberal democracies
which view the terror group as a number one threat to civilized living.
In short, the entirety of the democratic world is saying an emphatic
‘no’ to the al-Qaeda and its allies who constitute the very anti-thesis
of the democratic way of life.
Against this backdrop comes the news that the LTTE has sold stolen
Norwegian passports to the al-Qaeda - a key enemy of the civilized
world.
Whereas the West in particular would do anything in its power to
neutralize the al-Qaeda, which it has come to regard as terrorists of
the most abominable kind, it is yet to come to grips fully with the
threat posed by the LTTE, which is no less deadly than the al-Qaeda,
perhaps even worse.
Time and again we have been alerting the international community to
the need to crack down more concertedly and determinedly on the LTTE,
but not all sections of the world seem to be feeling the need for such
urgent measures. They feel, perhaps, that the LTTE is a problem entirely
for the Lankan State.
However, the truth is just the opposite. The terror threat confronts
the whole of the democratic world and it is on account of the worldwide
link of terror organisations, such as the LTTE and al-Qaeda, that this
is so.
The most brutal of terror groups are working in tandem and unless the
international community cracks down unitedly and hard on such groups,
they would continue with their maniacal deeds of terror.
The LTTE, therefore, is not only a matter for the Lankan State. It is
a matter for the whole of the civilized world and we hope more and more
states would follow the lead provided by states such as the US and
India, in outlawing the Tigers and hunting them down.
Such measures cannot wait for a later date. While the world carries
on complacently these dangerous terror organisations are not only
spreading their tentacles but adding newer and newer dimensions to their
terror activities.
The trade in stolen Norwegian passports is one such operation. It is
not only gun-running, narco-terrorism and money laundering by the
world’s most notorious terror groups, that the world needs to be alert
to. These groups are also into numerous and varying white collar crimes,
such as the trade in stolen passports.
The latter crime would enable LTTE and al-Qaeda terrorists to
infiltrate state borders at will and commit crimes of the most heinous
kind. Delays to act against the masters of terror, such as the LTTE,
could prove most costly.
The world must act now. |
Negative capabilities of the JVP
Having discussed internal dissension between two
major parties last month, the SLFP and the UNP, it seems appropriate
to devote some space to the JVP, the other important player now in
the political game. Significantly, there seems at present little
evidence of internal dissension there, which is worth considering in
itself.
 Full Story
143rd Police Commemoration Day falls today:
Police force and its antecedents
The Police Commemoration Day is being held at a
time when Police Force is engaged in the onerous task of protecting
the law and order of the country. As such, this particular day has
been reserved in order to pay tributes to all members of the Police
Service who have so heroically laid down their precious lives in the
course of carrying out their duties diligently.
Full Story
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