FM urges international effort to destroy Tigers' global network

SINGAPORE: Sri Lanka called yesterday for an international effort to destroy the worldwide activities of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) saying the terrorists' supply chain and funding must be severed to end 24 years of conflict.

The Tigers use a sophisticated international network of fundraising, procurement and shipping to secure equipment for use against Government Forces, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told top Asia-Pacific defence officials at a conference in Singapore. "How are they able to bring this to Sri Lanka? They pass through several ports," Bogollagama said.

"There are loading ports, discharging ports and transiting ports. They sometimes come in containers.

"This chain has to be arrested, and towards which we need international and bilateral cooperation with other countries," he said.

Bogollagama asked that governments exercise vigilance in preventing the Tigers from using their territories or waters, adding the group owns a number of ships under different flags, with which they smuggle military hardware.

The LTTE maintains a global network that includes political offices in 54 countries. They generate millions of dollars a year by extorting funds from Tamil diaspora, who number more than a million, Bogollagama said.

SINGAPORE, Sunday, AP