Quebec Tamil group used as Tiger front

World Tamil Movement; 'A foreign branch of the LTTE in Canada':

MONTREAL: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) control the Montreal-based World Tamil Movement as one of their "foreign branches," in charge of raising funds for the war effort and spreading propaganda, according to documents seized by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

In a 184-page affidavit unsealed by the Federal Court on Saturday, RCMP Corporal Shirley Davermann details how the LTTE give instructions to Tamil activists in Canada, and how money is collected in Canada for the Tiger cause. "The WTM is a foreign branch of the LTTE in Canada," she said, and its members follow written directives from the Tigers' leadership.

"In 2003, the LTTE issued a document called the 'Re-organisation of foreign branches of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam' in which they dictate precisely how they want their foreign branches to be structured and operated.

The Quebec branch of the WTM has been structured and operates as per the above-noted document." That document, seized by the RCMP when it raided WTM offices and homes in 2006, is also referred to by the RCMP as the "LTTE Operations Manual."

It instructs the foreign branches to "make all the necessary steps to receive monthly financial donations from each one of the Tamils . . . who are living in every country. These donations may be received through banks or in person."

Financial records seized from the WTM's headquarters and from banking institutions reveal that the WTM established a pre-authorised payment plan to collect money from members of the community. Between January, 2003, to February, 2008, the plan collected $302,000.

The RCMP alleges that the money was collected to finance the Tigers, which has helped the conflict in Sri Lanka.

"The intransigence of the LTTE in the peace process is believed to be due in part to their ability to operate using funds raised from the Tamil diaspora, to which those in Canada are the major contributors," Cpl. Davermann wrote in the affidavit, dated April 1. "The WTM is an integral part of the LTTE strategy."

The document includes the accounts of Montreal Tamils, who were forced to sign up for the pre-authorised payment plan before they could enter uncleared areas as on trips to their homeland to visit relatives.

They said they were surprised to discover LTTE members at checkpoints knew "everything" about them, including whether they were contributing to the cause back home. Other documents seized at the WTM offices show that the WTM gave LTTE leaders advance notice whether Tamils planning trips to Sri Lanka were contributors.

The affidavit was sworn as federal prosecutors moved to seize the WTM's Montreal headquarters and its bank accounts, alleging that they were being used to finance terrorism. The Canadian Government has listed the LTTE as a terrorist group.

The WTM is a non-profit organisation run by Canadians of ethnic Tamil heritage, but the group's Quebec and Ontario branches are under police investigation for allegedly raising money for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. No charges have been laid.

The RCMP investigation also uncovered evidence that Tamil activists from Montreal travelled to Sri Lanka to take part in training workshops organised by the Tigers.

A document seized by the RCMP gives a detailed account of a 2004 "workshop for foreign activists" attended by five members of the WTM, including its president Kathiravelupillai Sithamparanathan. The workshop included lectures from Tiger leaders and a visit of LTTE military installations. Sithamparanathan was given the honour of hoisting the Tiger flag before proceedings began one morning.

Another participant, Santhirakumar Perampalam, returned home with pictures showing him holding military weapons. "It appears as though foreign activists who participated in the workshop could manipulate a number of weapons and be photographed holding them," the affidavit states. (National Post)