By Walter Jayawardhana
Los Angeles, 13 December, (Asiantribune.com): Well known activists of a banned terrorist group in the United States are involved in the fund raising activities of the US Democratic candidate Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton.
According to a fundraising web site for the Senator, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) activists are involved in raising funds from 100 Dollars to 2300 Dollars to help elect Senator Clinton as the next United States President.
New Jersey residents have expressed the fear, that the LTTE or the Tamil Tigers could flush supporters with millions of dollars, to buy influence over the next possible President of the United States of America by infiltrating into democratic fund raising machine.
An email distributed by a female activist, Pat Pathmakumar for the group under the name “Tamils for Clinton” has appealed to contribute for the Clinton fund by sending checks to her or a man named Ram Ranjan, a man who organized the LTTE Heroes day meeting in New Jersey last year. Ranjan has publicly admitted he raised funds for the LTTE front, the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO).
The terrorist group, that introduced innovative methods like suicide jackets to many terrorist groups in the world, is listed as a foreign terrorist group by the State Department and the US Federal police , the FBI has alleged that the group had offered to them millions of dollars as bribes to lift the ban. The group is alleged to be using bribes to buy influence in India, Malysia and Sri Lanka. The money is being earned mostly by fraudulent business, credit card scams, drug running , voluntary fund raising and extortions of the Tamil Diaspora, according to a recent report of the JanesDefense weekly.
According to the Clinton website a leading LTTE activist, who came to live in New Jersey in 1994, called Ram Ranjan is one of the fund raisers of the Clinton campaign. Several others who are connected with him are also listed among the fund raisers.
He has earlier admitted that he had raised funds for the Tamil Tigers front organization called Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) which has raised funds purportedly for humanitarian purposes but actually diverted those funds for terrorist activities from many countries in the world.
The State Department has identified the TRO as a front organization of the LTTE and it is banned in many countries in the world.
An year ago he told a New Jersey newspaper called Star Ledger that although he supported the TRO it is not connected with the terrorist group LTTE.
The Star Ledger reported, “ … ……… he serves as state coordinator of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, which raises money for medical services, schools and orphanages and the victims of the LTTE, not the LTTE, Ranjan said.”
The Star Ledger newspaper interviewed Ranjan an year ago after he was involved in organizing a LTTE heroes day commemorating meeting with accepted leaders of the LTTE in the US as speakers, local residents said. Pro LTTE website the Tamil Net said that the function started by hoisting LTTE separatist flag. The meeting was organized by a front organization of the LTTE, the South Asian Community Association.
The Sri Lankan Tamil group held the memorial meeting to eulogize dead Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters including suicide bombers as heroes but told the New Jersey newspaper "Star-Ledger" they did not have any connections with a terrorist group.
The group called South Asian Community Association or SACA with Ranjan as an organizer caught attention after it rented an auditorium of the south Brunswick middle School in New Jersey, USA for a memorial to eulogize the dead LTTE fighters including those suicide bombers who targeted unarmed civilians and raised the flag of the LTTE and sang the anthem of the group on December 02 2006.
The meeting was addressed by known leaders of the LTTE in the United States, Visuvanadan Rudrakumaran and Dr. Naglingam Jeyalingam. Some have complained that the meeting held at this government school which was claimed by the Tamil Net website to be 500 also raised funds for the banned terrorist group.
The Star-Ledger newspaper of New Jersey who published two consecutive news articles about the group who rented the Brunswick school reported that , "
For more of article go to:http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/8699
Excerpted from the - Asian Tribune - at : http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/8699
Excerpted from Lanka Newspapers at: http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2007/5/14621.html
LTTE provides innovative terror tactics to other terrorist groups - The USA
Saturday, 5 May 2007 - 9:37 PM SL Time |
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In its Country Reports on Terrorism submitted to the US Congress the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the Sri Lankan terrorist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) led other terrorist groups in the world by giving them many innovative ideas.
`Many LTTE innovations,` said the report, `such as explosive belts, vests, and bras, using female suicide bombers, and waterborne suicide attacks against ships, have been copied by other terrorist groups.`
U.S. law requires the Secretary of State to provide Congress, by April 30 of each year, a full and complete report on terrorism with regard to those countries and groups meeting criteria set forth in the legislation. This annual report is entitled Country Reports on Terrorism. Beginning with the report for 2004, it replaced the previously published Patterns of Global Terrorism.
In its South and Central Asian section the report said, while the Maosists in Nepal signed a peace agreement in contrast the LTTE continued with its terrorist attacks.
`In Nepal and Sri Lanka, terrorism carried out by the Maoists and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) posed a severe challenge to those governments,` the report said.
The report said, `On an encouraging note, in November, the Maoists signed a peace agreement with the Government of Nepal that provided, under certain disarmament conditions, that the Maoists could be admitted into an interim government.
In Sri Lanka, the LTTE continued attacks including targeted assassinations against political and military opponents.`
The Secretary of State told the Congress that, the LTTE financed itself with contributions from the Tamil Diaspora in North America, Europe, and Australia, and by imposing local `taxes` on businesses operating in the areas of Sri Lanka under its control. Using this money, LTTE weapons were purchased on the international black market or captured from the Sri Lankan Army.
The following is the full report in the Sri Lanka section:
`The 2002 cease-fire between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, continued to erode amidst numerous violations and escalating military engagement between the LTTE and government security forces. The Sri Lankan Army remained deployed across the country to fight the insurgency. The paramilitary Special Task Force (STF) police were deployed both in the east and in strategic locations in the west.
`The LTTE conducted a campaign of targeted assassinations against political and military opponents. This included the April assassination attempt of Sri Lanka Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka and the assassination of the Army Third-in-Command; the August 12 assassination of the Government of Sri Lanka`s Secretariat for the Coordination of the Peace Process, Deputy `Director Keteshwaran Loganathan; and the December 1 suicide bomber`s attempt on the life of Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the President`s brother.
The Karuna faction, a dissident faction of the LTTE, conducted its own assassination campaign against the LTTE and pro-LTTE civilians in the east.
`Following the assassination of Foreign Minister Kadirgamar in August 2005, the government enacted emergency regulations giving arrest power to members of the armed forces, who were required to turn suspects over to the police within 24 hours. Individuals arrested under the emergency regulations may be detained for up to one year. Under these regulations, 148 persons were arrested; most have already been released. A revised Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), enacted in December, strengthened these powers.
`The LTTE financed itself with contributions from the Tamil Diaspora in North America, Europe, and Australia, and by imposing local `taxes` on businesses operating in the areas of Sri Lanka under its control. Using this money, LTTE weapons were purchased on the international black market or captured from the Sri Lankan Army. Many LTTE innovations, such as explosive belts, vests, and bras, using female suicide bombers, and waterborne suicide attacks against ships, have been copied by other terrorist groups.
In general, the LTTE did not target U.S. citizens or assets, limiting attacks to Sri Lankan security forces, political figures, civilians, and businesses. However, two suicide bomb attacks on VIP motorcades in Colombo occurred within half a mile of the U.S. embassy on roads frequently travelled by Embassy employees.
`Sri Lankan cooperation with the FBI has resulted in arrests of persons charged with material support to terrorist groups. The Sri Lankan government cooperated with U.S. efforts to track terrorist financing, although no assets were identified." (For more go to link below) |
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