Sri Lanka welcomes U.S. decision to designate the ‘Tamil Foundation’ as supporter of L.T.T.E terrorism

(February 12,Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Government of Sri Lanka appreciates the U.S. Government’s decision to designate the ‘Tamil Foundation’ as an organization extending support to L.T.T.E terrorism and to freeze all its U.S. assets. This decision also prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in any transactions with the Tamil Foundation. The U.S. authorities have charged that the L.T.T.E uses charitable organizations such as the Tamil Foundation to raise funds to support its terror campaign. The U.S. Treasury which maintains vigilance on the financial dealings of terrorist organizations has vowed to aggressively target attempts by terrorists to use charities and other front organizations to propagate terrorism against innocent civilians.

The L.T.T.E has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization in the United States since 1997. The U.S. Treasury Department has described the Tamil Foundation as having close financial and other links to the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) which was also found to have links with the L.T.T.E and had its assets frozen in 2007. Incidentally, the Tamil Foundation which is based in Maryland, United States and the TRO are both headed by the same person.

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama welcoming the latest designation of another L.T.T.E. front organization acknowledged the consistent and sustained efforts of the U.S. Government to curb L.T.T.E. related fundraising, money laundering and procurement of supplies in the United States. He recalled the several productive meetings with officials of the U.S. Treasury and State Department in Washington D.C. during the period 2007-2008 where he drew the attention of the U.S. authorities on the dire need to dismantle the L.T.T.E. fund raising networks globally.

The Government of Sri Lanka continues to highlight the need to enlighten individuals that donate to seemingly charitable organizations such as the TRO and the Tamil Foundation that their funds are invariably channeled to the L.T.T.E’s terror campaign against civilians and not used for humanitarian purposes as can be witnessed by the absence of any useful facilities for civilian use in the recently liberated areas in the North and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka.

Citing the close connections of the TRO and the Tamil Foundation to the L.T.T.E., the Government of Sri Lanka would also like to point out the need to hold leaders and agents of such organizations accountable under law for their reprehensible conduct to propagate terrorism in Sri Lanka.

-Sri Lanka Guardian