Canadians plead guilty in terror trial

The trial of three Canadians accused of travelling to New York in 2006 to buy anti-aircraft missiles and assault rifles for the Tigers ended on Tuesday following two more guilty pleas.

Sahilal Sabaratnam, 29 and Thiruthanikan Thanigasalam, 41, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to support a foreign terrorist group and conspiracy to buy missiles.

Their co-accused, Sathajhan Sarachandran, 29, had already pleaded guilty on Monday. They each face a minimum sentence of 25 years with a maximum of life imprisonment after admitting they were part of a Canadian-based arms procurement cell of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also known as the LTTE.

"With these convictions we have sent a clear message that the LTTE and its supporters cannot use the United States as a source of supply for deadly weapons and technology, and that all terrorists who attempt to do so will be met with the full resources of law enforcement," US Attorney Benton Campbell said.

The case was the product of an undercover investigation, called Project O-Needle, conducted jointly by the FBI and the RCMP.

The investigation began when the suspects made contact with a man they thought was a US arms dealer but who was actually a confidential police informant.

The FBI launched an undercover sting operation that caught the defendants on tape negotiating to purchase 10 Russian SA-18 missiles and 500 AK-47 assault rifles for US$900,000.

The cell was working under the direction of Pottu Aman, the intelligence and procurement chief of the Tigers and right-hand man to LTTE leader guerrilla boss Velupillai Prabhakaran, the US Attorney's office said in a statement.

US officials said each of the men had distinct roles in the procurement group. National Post