Banned Terrorist Group Plans Event Honouring Suicide Missions at the London ExCeL Centre

( November24, London, Sri Lanka Guardain) Heroes' Day, an event glorifying Tamil Tiger terrorist tactics, is due to take place later this month at the London ExCeL Centre in defiance of UK laws prohibiting the glorification of and support for terrorism.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), or Tamil Tigers, are a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK under the 2000 Terrorism Act. Membership of the LTTE, fundraising for the group and encouraging support for them are all prohibited in the UK. For the LTTE and its supporters, the 27th November is Heroes' Day. Past suicide missions are openly venerated and Velupillai Prabhakaran, the military and political leader of the LTTE, addresses crowds in many countries via video link-up to raise money and international support for the group.

Holding a public Heroes' Day event in the UK is illegal under both the Terrorism Act 2000 (for supporting a proscribed organisation) and the 2006 Act (for glorification of terrorism). However, LTTE-supporting websites have started advertising this year's celebration. On Wednesday 19th November, the Tamil language radio station International Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) informed listeners that the event would take place at the London ExCeL Centre from 10am onwards. An Ofcom investigation into IBC's broadcast the day before Heroes' Day 2007 found that, "parts of the programme included content that could be perceived as either encouraging or inviting support for the LTTE."

40 percent of LTTE funding comes from UK sources. Despite this, the government's position towards the LTTE and its supporters lacks consistency. The ExCeL Centre drew 3,000 supporters in 2007, and 8,000 the year before when LTTE supporters from around Europe gathered at a leisure centre in Harrow. Heroes' Day 2007 was filmed by the Metropolitan Police, but it was not investigated further. Tharisanam TV, a pro-LTTE London-based satellite TV station, was closed down in June 2008. Yet, Thendral TV, set up in July 2008, now broadcasts pro-LTTE material across the UK.

Prabhakaran's 2007 Heroes' Day speech praised the "immeasurable dedication and sacrifice" of the Black Tigers, the group's suicide contingent. In the same speech, he criticised the international community for proscribing Tamil Diaspora support for the LTTE. An open video message this year from Prabhakaran - currently wanted for terrorism offences by Interpol - would raise serious questions over the government's ability to enforce UK terrorism laws.

The Centre for Social Cohesion believes it is deeply worrying that fundraisers for a proscribed terrorist organisation can operate in the UK with impunity. Whether it's the Tamil Tigers or the extreme Islamist group Al Ghurabaa, the government needs to show consistency in its enforcement of the Terrorism Acts. - Sri Lanka Guardian