Security agencies turn spot light on most wanted LTTE arms cum human smuggler

Security and INTEL agencies have turned the spot light on Ravi Shanker Kanagarajah alias Shangili, a most wanted transnational terrorist cum kingpin of overseas based human trafficking and illegal arms smuggling activities.

According to informed sources, Ravi Shankar is also found to be the owner of MV Ocean Lady alias Princess Eashwary, an LTTE floating warehouse extensively used in human smuggling activities- in the outfit's overseas network based in INDONESIA, MALAYSIA and THAILAND. Earlier, on October 2009, Canadian immigration authorities confiscated MV Princess Eashwary (MV Ocean Lady) while smuggling-in 76 bogus asylum seekers into Canadian waters from South Asia. The vessel "Princess Eashwary" is also said to be used extensively for gunrunning activities for the outfit, prior to its military defeat in May, 2009.

“His activities abroad have to be very closely monitored by the Law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the countries where he is taking shelter. It is the responsibility of such authorities to take him into custody and deport to Sri Lanka”, a senior defence official said in reply to a question raised by our correspondent on the possibilities of Shanker’s arrest. “Terrorism is no longer a crime but an extension of war”, he further stated.

According to the official, Sri Lanka Law enforcement authorities are working hand-in-hand with the concerned government’s for extradition orders on such criminals cum terrorists.

Ravi Shanker is a great threat for the security of the entire South Asian region, he said. He is also one of the very important and most wanted figures in organized crimes and human smuggling in the region, the official further said.

In the backdrop of the military defeat of LTTE, its activists of the existing international wing are making extraneous efforts to mobilize. Such steps are aligned with its sole aim of destabilizing the island nation, affecting its sovereignty and drawing it back to death and destruction.

Ravi Shanker alias Shangili is a Sri Lankan passport holder who had claimed bogus asylum to evade Canadian immigration authorities. He is a key LTTE gunrunner also allegedly engaged in human smuggling, who owns three vessels which are currently under operation and registered in Panama. According to informed sources, these vessels were used as floating LTTE warehouses cum armories

The subject maintained close links with Ponniah Anandarajah aka Aiyya aka Rajah aka Aiyyanna (Accountant, US), Rajan (LTTE Air Wing activist, Malaysia), Bahitharan aka Bhavi (Manager of LTTE shipping operations, Indonesia) and Kumar one of the shipping agents/human smuggler in Indonesia. Presently owns few LTTE vessels and speedboats that had been previously used to transfer arms and ammunition from overseas to Sri Lanka and presently these are being used to coordinate illegal operations particularly human smuggling, sources further said.

Ravi Shankar had joined the LTTE as a Sea Tiger cadre and had been involved in arms procurement/smuggling to LTTE since early 90s. He joined the LTTE shipping network and was employed as a cadet in the MV SUN BIRD which was operating under the strict control and guidance of Prabakaran. Since then Ravi Shankar is involved in smuggling of arms and illegal human trafficking.

Presently he owns “Harritel Merchant Marine Co. Ltd registered in Republic of Marshall.

US cannot afford to "lose" Sri Lanka - Senate committee report

(By : Dr. Chandrani Gunaratna )

Sri Lanka is increasingly aligning towards the Asian powerhouses like China and politically and economically distancing from the West as Western countries increasingly criticizing Sri Lankan Government's handling of the war and human rights record, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations said.

In a report titled "Sri Lanka: Recharting U.S. Strategy after the War" and released today by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations headed by the democratic Senator John Kerry said this strategic shift in policy of Sri Lanka will have consequences for U.S. interests in the region.

Sri Lanka, being located at the center of crucial maritime trading routes in the Indian Ocean connecting Europe and the Middle East to China and the rest of Asia has great potential to affect the stability of India, the report warned.

Considering the strategic position of Sri Lanka and its deteriorating bilateral relationship with the West the United States cannot afford to "lose" - Sri Lanka, it said.

The Committee report said that the Obama administration is currently weighing a new strategy for relations with Sri Lanka.

The Committee proposed to increase the however, considering a new approach that increases U.S. leverage on Sri Lanka by capitalizing on the economic, trade, and security aspects of the relationship.

"U.S. strategy should also invest in Sinhalese parts of the country, instead of just focusing aid on the Tamil-dominated North and East," it suggested.

The Senate Committee report commended the government for taking positive steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in the North, develop the East, and reduce the number of child soldiers despite ongoing allegations of war crimes and human rights abuses.

It pointed out that Tamil leaders for their part have not yet made anticipated conciliatory gestures that might ease government concerns and foster a genuine dialogue.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee in February held a hearing on Sri Lanka. The hearing was widely considered by Sri Lankan community as one-sided because the hearing had no representation from the government but only its critics.

More recently in early November the Committee sent two staffers to Sri Lanka on a fact finding mission and to assess the ground situation.

Most Western governments have curtailed the aid to government of Sri Lanka citing its conduct during the last phase of the war and the human right record or have attached conditions to aid packages.

In contrast China and Iran have unconditionally supported post-war Sri Lanka to rebuild the country and carry out massive development projects. The government's close relationship with countries like Iran, Libya, Myanmar and China has wracked a nerve of the West.

http://defence.lk

Caging Tigers: France deserves praise

France deserves praise for having busted a major LTTE extortion racket and we fervently hope that it will go the whole hog to eliminate the menace once and for all. There must be hundreds of LTTE collectors throughout France, and all of them must be brought to book, states The Island editorial on Thursday (Nov 26), commending France's stringent actions against LTTE activists.

It behoves other countries where the LTTE is active such as the US, the UK, Canada, Norway, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland and Denmark to rid their soil of LTTE extortionists and killers. After all, they are the countries that champion human rights and democracy and on no grounds could they countenance LTTE fund-raising, the editorial further asserted.

Following is the full text of The Island editorial on 26th Nov, 2009.

One main reason for the rapid growth of global terrorism is the world's slow reaction to that threat. If the US had taken steps to neutralise the militant groups it created in Afghanistan at least after the Russians were ousted, both countries would not have been in the present predicament. The US is today using a chainsaw to deal with something that it could have just nipped in the bud years ago.

Sri Lanka's terrorism flourished because the western countries took the LTTE for granted. But for the huge funds that flowed into the LTTE's war chest from overseas, Prabhakaran would not have been able to raise a terrorist army and equip it with the state of the art arms and equipment to sustain a bloody war of attrition. After the LTTE severed its umbilical cord with India, it turned to the West for refuge, political clout and funds. If the outfit had been prevented from abusing foreign soil to wage war against this country, perhaps it would have been compelled to negotiate a solution seriously and a lot of precious lives could have been saved.

It is reported that France has at long last cracked down on some LTTE extortionists and jailed 20 of them including a key terrorist. If only such action had been taken about two decades ago! However, better late than never. Millions of dollars and Euros were extracted from Tamils overseas and even those who detested violence coughed up funds for the terrorist cause out of fear and the sake of their families at home in the LTTE-controlled areas. Although the LTTE's military muscle has been decimated, extortion is said to be going on in many countries at the behest of Diasporic Tigers.

France deserves praise for having busted a major LTTE extortion racket and we fervently hope that it will go the whole hog to eliminate the menace once and for all. There must be hundreds of LTTE collectors throughout France, and all of them must be brought to book.

It behoves other countries where the LTTE is active such as the US, the UK, Canada, Norway, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland and Denmark to rid their soil of LTTE extortionists and killers. After all, they are the countries that champion human rights and democracy and on no grounds could they countenance LTTE fund-raising.

When the US banned the LTTE, the late Anton Balasingham boasted that his boys knew how to circumvent the proscription and continue fund-raising. His prediction came true. In spite of the US ban, the LTTE fronts have been operating freely in that country. Worse, some of them have even contributed generously to the election campaigns of key American politicians. Prominent US citizens have been working for the LTTE thus making a mockery of the US proscription.

There is a reason to believe that LTTE lobbyists have been able to shape the Obama administration's Sri Lanka policy, as evident from the anti-Sri Lankan utterances by the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and some top US diplomats exuding antipathy towards Sri Lanka from every pore.

In Britain, some lawmakers are apparently representing the LTTE's interests in the House of Commons. LTTE fronts continue their fund raising operations, though it is not known where the money ends up. Britain is one of the countries that could have used their influence over the LTTE to prevent it from unleashing terrorism in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, they made an intervention only after Prabhakaran had been cornered.

At least now, Britain should clamp down on LTTE activities on her soil. It has no moral right to impart lessons on human rights, democracy and good governance to Sri Lanka without putting its house in order first of all.

The same goes for other western countries engaged in protecting global democracy. The biggest contribution to world peace they can make is to desist from harbouring terrorists of all hues responsible for heinous crimes elsewhere.

Courtesy: The Island

President to appoint committee to study

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to appoint an expert committee within one week to verify the facts behind the allegations against the Sri Lanka Government in the report submitted by the US State Department to the US Congress on incidents during the recent conflict in Sri Lanka, Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said.

The Government stance on the report will be announced after the report was made by the committee appointed by the President, he added.

He was addressing a media conference held at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday to explain the new situation following the submission of the said report.

Minister Samarasinghe said that the third paragraph of the report itself highlights that the facts included in the report are without any legal value and cannot be proved. They are not in a position to prove the allegation contained in the report.

It has been clearly stated that the Report of the US State Department was based on some sources such as Amnesty International, Humanwatch and imbalanced and haphazard private sources and communiques, he stressed.

Minister Samarasinghe further said that certain international elements were once again trying to fuel the flames of secession and undo the concerted efforts of the Government and the people of Sri Lanka for rehabilitation and national reconciliation. "The report does not speak of any war crimes at all," he said.

He said that he has already discussed this matter with the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and she was very keen about the decision of the Sri Lanka President on this controversial report.

Courtesy: Daily News

An empty honour

We are still trying to figure out why the Nobel Committee gave Barack Obama its annual Peace Prize. As far as it appears, the award was based on the fact that the U. S. President is a good-natured fellow who people seem to like --and who isn't George W. Bush.

In fact, committee chairman Thorbjoen Jagland didn't really try to pretend otherwise. Consider the committee's stated reasons, along with Mr. Jagland's comments when reporters pressed him to justify Mr. Obama's selection: - "He has created a new international climate." - "One of the first things he did was to go to Cairo to try to reach out to the Muslim world, then to restart the Mideast negotiations, and then he reached out to the rest of the world through international institutions." - "Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play." - "Obama [has] captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future."

What seems clear from all this bafflegab is that Mr. Obama is being given his award for mere words -- for striking fashionable poses in favour of multilateralism, for making a nice speech in Cairo, for offering "hope." Months after Americans learned to dismiss Mr. Obama's 2008 presidential campaign slogans as the bromides they were, Scandinavians apparently are still drinking his Kool-Aid.

So who should have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize?

Instead of droning on about "hope" and "a new international climate," a group of people charged with awarding an annual peace prize might find it useful to focus on a more mundane and obvious inquiry. To wit: What part of the planet was beset by bloody war in 2008, but is now entirely at peace?

The only nation that fits the bill is Sri Lanka. And the reason for that is a ruthless military campaign waged by President Mahinda Rajapaksa against a militarized Tamil death cult known as the Tamil Tigers. This conflict has taken nearly 100,000 lives since it began three decades ago. But Mr. Rajapaksa ended it definitively at one stroke, killing or capturing virtually the entire Tiger leadership. It is one of the only times in the history of modern warfare that a guerrilla/ terrorist movement has been utterly destroyed in such a fashion. Overnight, war became a stranger to Sri Lanka.

Sounds like a pretty good candidate for a "peace" prize, don't you think?

But of course, actually making peace is not what this nominal peace prize is about. It's about going through the motions of pursuing peace in a touchy-feely UN-approved way.

Mr. Rajapaksa has done some fairly nasty things en route to destroying the Tigers -- including imprisoning and perhaps even killing pesky journalists and human-rights activists. More importantly (from a Scandinavian point of view), Mr. Rajapaksa committed an unpardonable foreign-policy sin en route to his victory: flouting "multilateralism." Which is to say that he ignored the bien pensant voices from abroad urging him to let the Tigers go just as the Sri Lankan military was about to administer the coup de grace. Had he listened, the war would continue to this day.

It's so much more fashionable to honour a man such as Mr. Obama, whose foreign-policy record hasn't been sullied by the moral trade-offs that inevitably accompany actually doing something to create peace on the battlefield.

Since the entire body of work for which Mr. Obama is being honoured consists of idealistic pronouncements, the Nobel prize committee was able to pick him without worrying that the choice could stir up controversy among umbraged minority groups, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch or the UN's various institutional cheerleaders.

With this pick, the Nobel Committee has declared itself to be a debating society -- and it has given its shiny prize to the nice man who gave the best speech. It's like those beauty pageants wherein the MC asks contestants what they would do to promote world peace. The best answer earns applause, flowers and a trophy. But no one expects the winner to actually go out in her tiara and ballroom gown and stop people from fighting.

That task is left to head-knockers such as Mahinda Rajapaksa, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and General Stanley McChrystal in Afghanistan. Their job is difficult and bloody. But every once in a while, as in Sri Lanka this year, they actually defeat the bad guys.

Then they go home, and turn on their televisions, and watch men such as Mr. Obama get showered with praise for their pretty words.

National Post Published: Saturday, October 10, 2009

Intelligence agencies in hunt for key LTTE arms dealers & front activists

• 
  Suspect of major drug trafficking, human smuggling, gun-running and transnational terrorist activities....

Intelligence agencies in several countries are now on a hunt for several high-profile LTTE front agents cum arms dealers, with reliable suspicions of transnational terrorist activities including drug trafficking and human smuggling, informed sources said citing latest reports received.

According to these sources intelligence agencies are on the track of LTTE terrorist agents who are alleged to have links with many active militia and terrorist organizations abroad. These agents had worked clandestinely, based in foreign locations, aiding and abetting in many crimes against humanity perpetrated by the LTTE. This hunt is a combined effort of the intelligence circles in several countries, along with the concerned law enforcement agencies, the sources further said.

This tracking ;points to determined and coordinated efforts of intelligence agencies, which are fast shrinking the space for terrorists, their dealers and front groups to function with ease.

According to reports, Sivarasa Pirundaban alias Achchudan alias Suresh, Ravi Shanker Kanagarajah alias Shangili, Bahitharan alias Bhavi, Narendran Rathnasabapathi alias Naren, Ganeshruban alias Ruban, Ponnaiah Anandarajah alias Aiyya alias Rajah alias Aiyyanna are alleged to be under intense scrutiny.

Achchudan has provided LTTE with technical assistance and training for its pilots on air suicide missions in 1998 including the 2003-2004 CFA period. He is alleged to have co-coordinated the LTTE's air raids in Colombo via satellite communication from his overseas base station. According to available reports, Achchudan owns many air power related assets overseas.

Ravi Shanker alias Shangili is a Sri Lankan passport holder who had claimed bogus asylum to evade Canadian immigration authorities. He is a key LTTE gunrunner also allegedly engaged in human smuggling, who owns three vessels which are currently under operation and registered in Panama. According to informed sources, these vessels were used as floating LTTE warehouses cum armories. Shangili also runs a LTTE network with agents based in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Meanwhile, intelligence agencies have also turned the spot light on Bhavi, another key LTTE figure who runs the terrorist outfit's Far Eastern based illegal activities, involving its shipping fleet. He is also said to own a large share of LTTE's overseas assets including business ventures in real estate and shipping.

Ruban is also said to own a large share of LTTE's overseas assets including real estate, in East Asian countries.

Naren is another key figure of the LTTE's foreign procurement arm with diversified businesses in real estate and share-markets. Allegedly involved in many illegal arms procurement deals, Naren has reportedly twice been deported by Singaporean authorities.

Further information on the activities of these key LTTE arms dealers will follow, as intelligence services close in on them.

Ravishanker Kanagarajah alias Shangili		Sivarasa Pirundaban alias Achchudan alias Suresh

reference - defence.lk

"Our victory showed the world how humane our brave soldiers are..." - President

"No one could charge the military for any crime as they had engaged in a humanitarian operation in a professional manner. I urge those who point their finger at us to be careful as their other fingers are pointed at themselves," President and Commander-in-Chief Mahinda Rajapaksa at the inauguration of the 60th Anniversary celebrations of the Sri Lanka Army on Saturday (Oct 03).

He said that terrorism is born and nurtured due to the lack of development . Now the government has taken over the responsibility of ushering in national development. Anyone who has witnessed the bravery of the army that fought the most dreaded terrorists in the world would not think of leaving the country. He said that this exhibition displays the pride of the Lanka Army which is experiencing its golden era. The Sri Lanka Army flag has strengthened the national flag.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa asserted that some internal forces were trying to charge Sri Lanka for war crimes to cover up their shortcomings and to degrade the hard earned military victory, but as long as there are patriotic people, these forces would not achieve their ignoble 'missions'.

The President said that no one could charge the military for any crime as they had engaged in a humanitarian operation in a professional manner.

"I urge those who point their finger at us to be careful as their other fingers are pointed at themselves," he said.

The President expressed confidence that those who witnessed the heroism of our soldiers who had defeated the world's most ruthless terrorists would not attempt to take up arms again to destroy this united country and would not think of a separate State when they reap the benefits of the country's development.

The President said that the 60th anniversary of the SLA would be the most spectacular event in its history, as an honour to the soldiers who recorded this victory by sacrificing their lives and limbs.

"The victory over the LTTE, after three decades, was not handed over to us on a platter. It was not a mere victory, but it is a victory that showed the world how humane our brave soldiers are. The soldiers carried guns in one hand and the Human Rights Convention in the other. At the same time their hearts were full of love for their fellow human beings," he said.

He said that over 30,000 military personnel had died during the 30-year war, of which over 23,000 were from the SLA.

"This shows the commitment of the SLA to defeat terrorism in this country. Armies of other countries may have the latest firepower, but their soldiers lack humanity. The SLA is the only Army that can celebrate its anniversaries with pride as it is the only Army that defeated terrorism. The SLA flag will flutter majestically among all Army flags of other countries," he said, adding that other armies could not defeat terrorism though they may have superior firepower.

"Our soldiers had fought the world's most ruthless terrorists who had adopted the most inhumane tactics like suicide bombers. I hope these armies study and research the means with which our Army defeated the LTTE. They have to study the courage, bravery and commitment of our soldiers and military leaders who led the war to its victory. They also have to study the humanity of these soldiers, who rescued thousands of civilians that suffered under terrorism," President Rajapaksa said.

He said the SLA is a professional and disciplined Army unlike the armies of those countries which talk against Sri Lanka.

"I think that our Army was encouraged to defeat terrorism by the support given by the people of this country. They gave their children to the Army, they protected the military leaders who led the war and tolerated all the hardships they faced until this victory," he said, pointing out that the people of this country - the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims - joined hands with the Government with one goal in mind - to defeat the LTTE.

He said the Government would do anything to protect the country and the hard-earned victory.

courtesy : defence.lk