Canada says won’t lift ban on Tigers

Canada has done its best to end the long-running conflict in Sri Lanka, but will not bow to pressure to remove the Tigers from the list of banned terrorist groups, a Federal Cabinet Minister said yesterday.

For more than a week, Tamil supporters have been gathering around Parliament Hill to protest the war in the South Asian country and ask Ottawa to intervene.

“We have done everything that these protesters are asking Canada to do - namely call for a ceasefire - except we will not respond to a demand of anyone to legalize a banned, illegal terrorist organization,” Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told reporters in Calgary.

In 2006, Canada placed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on a list of banned terrorist organizations under the federal Anti-Terrorism Act, which prohibits financing such groups.

Kenney said Canada has called for a ceasefire from both sides, asked the Sri Lankan government to ensure international support reaches people in need and increased Canada’s humanitarian aid.

But the Tigers are responsible for suicide bombings, and the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians, he said. Courtesy Globe and Mail