Lanka targets overseas LTTE finances - US
‘Lankan govt committed to counter terrorism efforts
of international bodies’:
With no incidents of terrorism or a threat of its resurgence within
Sri Lanka, most counter terrorism activities undertaken by the
government in 2011 targeted possible LTTE overseas finances, a United
States government report released on Tuesday said.
The US State Department ‘Country Reports on Terrorism 2011’, an
annual report which reviews the counter terrorism events worldwide last
year, said despite the military defeat of the LTTE, the Sri Lankan
government was concerned about continuing fund raising activities of
certain LTTE sympathiser remnants overseas.
According to the report, since the LTTE had used a number of
non-profit organisations for terrorist financing purposes, including the
Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), during 2011, the government has
actively searched for other financial links to the LTTE.
Commenting on Sri Lanka’s cooperation on a regional and international
level to counter terrorism activities, the report said the government
remained committed to counter terrorism efforts of international bodies
such as the United Nations and cooperated with regional countries on
such issues.
The report also mentioned the Sri Lanka Army’s seminar on ‘Defeating
Terrorism: The Sri Lankan Experience’ held from May 31 to June 2, 2011
to discuss counter terrorism lessons learnt. It stated 41 countries,
including SAARC members and China, Russia, Japan and the US had
attended.
On the countering of terrorist finances, the report said the
government had amended the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the
Convention on the Suppression of Terrorist Financing Act in 2011 to
strengthen the respective legal regimes to remove identified
deficiencies.
In addition, the government placed into effect the UN Convention for
the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, as well as creating a
specialised branch at the Central Bank – the Financial Intelligence
Unit, to track possible terrorist financing, the report added. The
report, which provides an assessment of trends and events in
international terrorism revealed within the last year, continued to list
the LTTE as a US government designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation. |