Aug.23rd 2010

The recent brilliant analysis by Dr Rohan Gunaratne the specialist terrorism analyst based in Singapore conveys an all important caution to the world that Foreign Tamil Tiger militants based outside Sri Lanka are turning to human-smuggling operations to raise money in a bid to revive the group, which was decimated by government forces last year,and a caution which needs to be heeded towards preventing the once most dangerous terror group in the world from ever raising its head!

Preying on the sympathies of Nations like Canada these conniving residual Tamil Tiger criminals who are not entirely wiped out and continuing to maintain their efforts to recussitate the liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam now defunct in Sr Lanka should never be granted any means towards their ambitions and the recent shipload of so called refugees which is being viewed very judiciously by the Canadian authorities and law enforcement as a possible terrorist threat seems to be exactly what Dr. Gunaratne has overviewed asindeed a terrorist threat and needs to be taken to task objectively and tangibly.

It has been discovered through intelligence investigations that the rebel operatives who organised a human shipment aboard the Sun Sea cargo vessel that arrived in Canada last week charged up to C$50,000 (Dh31,333) per person, as outlined in the latest report by Dr.Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore where the head count of Tamil would be refugees on board was said to be about 492.

It cannot be dispelled entirely that the Tamil Tiger organization albeit non existent in Sri Lanka is not a
threat to global security as there are warnings signs flashing vividly to the discerning analyst scrutinizing the issue on an ongoing basis of which Dr. Gunaratne is a part of as the many activities of Tamil Tiger representation globally point to the reality that they still have funds and means sufficient enough to regroup and launch further attempts towards their ultimate goal where only a substantial base is now missing.

India once thought of as a prime location for this is now intolerant of their clandestine and surreptitious activities and monitoring them on a daily basis, particularly in regions like Tamil Nadu once a hub of pro LTTE activity now outlawed and viewed with near zero tolerance towards maintaining India’s cordial relations with Sri Lanka as well as the related protocols where even certain LTTE sympathetic political groups are unwelcome and incarcerated whenever they step out of line and the ignominious name of Vaiko crops up instantly along with many others of similar ilk and consequently the would be future Ealamites are now looking for a more fertile and safer base to operate out of, where Canada seems to be their ideal choice as many pointers to this indicate so Canada Be Warned!!

It is indeed heartwarming for the global community that after so much global terrorism which still continues to plagues the world perhaps to a lesser degree, many powerful and prominant nations have taken up the cause to outlaw Tamil Tiger terrorism and any other forms of global terrorism where running them into the ground is the only option and it would be a travesty of justice if terror groups such as the Tamil Tigers are permitted any leeway through the lack of insight and perceptionon the part of some to see through their ploys and be hoodwinked into believing their cause is legitimate by virtue of their theatrics and an outpouring of fecund sympathy with no substantial reason for it!
In this respect the recent stand by the Canadian authorities need to be applauded and it is hoped that this would continue without wavering or prevaricating towards Global Security!

More traces of explosives have been found on the migrant ship that brought 76 Sri Lankan Tamil men to Canada last month, a Canada Border Services Agency officer has testified.
The explosive RDX - also known as cyclonite or hexogen - is used to make plastic explosives, mainly for the military. Its residue was discovered in three separate parts of the Princess Easwary, which was intercepted off the coast of Vancouver Island on Oct. 17.
Traces of two other explosives were found on two items of clothing seized when Canadian authorities boarded the ship and took the migrants into custody.
This latest revelation - made at a detention hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board - is potentially damaging to the migrants.
All of the migrants claim to be Tamil refugees fleeing persecution in Sri Lanka. All told, border officers who scoured and swabbed the ship came up with 10 positive results for traces of explosives.
Some terrorism experts - including a scholar who is the main adviser to the Canadian government in the case - have alleged that at least two of the men are members of the Tamil Tigers, the military arm of a violent separatist group that waged a decades-long war with the Sri Lankan government. There have also been allegations that the migrants’ ship was previously a Tamil Tiger gun-running vessel that transported weapons from North Korea to Sri Lanka.
But the lawyer for more than 20 of the Tamil migrants said the positive tests for explosives traces mean little. If anything, the fact that the amounts found are relatively small undermines the argument that this was a gun-running ship. If it truly was used to transport weapons and explosives, far more residue would have been detected, Lorne Waldman said in an interview after the hearing.
“They are claiming this is a weapons smuggling ship,” he said in a telephone interview from Toronto. “They are talking about microscopic traces of explosives. … It’s not plausible that a ship that was dedicated to smuggling weapons” produced so few positive results.
Mr. Waldman said it would not be unusual to find traces of explosives - some of which were found on the migrants’ clothing - if the men had been near conflict zones. The lawyer yesterday put that scenario to CBSA officer Chantal Lee, who analyzed swabs from the ship.
But Ms. Lee said she couldn’t answer that. “All I know is that I took the samples and the results were positive,” she testified.
Lawyers for the migrants have cross-examined three witnesses who have provided testimony for Canadian authorities in their attempts to determine if the migrants are terrorists or genuine refugees.
Last week, Mr. Waldman grilled Rohan Gunaratna, a Singapore-based terrorism expert who has been the chief adviser to Canadian authorities probing the migrants’ identities and backgrounds.
Yesterday, Mr. Waldman questioned Ms. Lee, who tested dozens of swabs taken from the ship. She said she discovered “three hits” of the explosive RDX in swabs taken from different parts of the ship.
Later, more samples that were sent to Ottawa for testing yielded five positive results for the explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate, or PETN, she said. PETN is also used in heart medication.
The latest revelations about the RDX discovery brings to 10 the number of positive test results for explosive residue found on the Princess Easwary. Earlier, CBSA officers found trace amounts of TNT and PETN on two items of clothing seized from the ship.
It’s been more than a month since the migrant ship sailed into Canadian waters off Vancouver Island. Today, all but one of the 76 men remain behind bars as border officials attempt to establish their identities.
In other testimony, a border intelligence officer said he learned that the migrant ship was headed to Canadian waters two days before it arrived. Russ MacNeil testified that ships of that size are required to notify a country’s coast guard 96 hours before arriving. When the ship failed to declare itself, a federal fisheries airplane was sent to observe it. From aerial photos, border officials were able to glean that the ship was called Ocean Lady. This later proved to be a fake name and its real name was the Princess Easwary.

As a Canadian I ask RCMP and CSIS to investigate them.

The LTTE has damaged the reputation of the Tamils, a hardworking and a honest people. We have to take a stand against the LTTE before they reestablish themselves again in another country after they were defeated in Sri Lanka. The LTTE intention is to establish itself in Canada with the 20 million Canadian dollars they raised in the Sun Sea smuggling venture. Also, Canada must help to take action against Tamil Tiger leaders and their fronts in Canada bnow supporting the Sun Sea smugglers. Otherwise more ships will come. Sending ship to Canada is big business!