Malaysia – Fear that tourism might be target.
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By Nilantha Ilangamuwa
(August 15, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) “As our liberation movement has decided to silence the guns and follow a politico diplomatic path, our cadres in the homeland would follow this decision. Since we do not have an open political space in the homeland to engage in political activities, our cardres cannot openly engage in any political activities at this point in time,” KP has pointed out in his final article regarding the political programme of Eelam Tamils in the current context of our homeland. But he was failed.
Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksha has told a senior security officer recently over the phone “I will boot out from office anybody who releases any secrets of KP’s or his answers or revelations to the Media without my permission”. An investigation of KP is going on at a secret location in Colombo under Major General Kapila Hendawitharana who is Director of National Intelligence; he is also one of two key persons involved with KP’s capture. KP has avoided answers and is putting all things on Pottu Amman when security persons asked him some important questions. But security persons believe he will finally reveal a lot more.
This is not the first time Tharmalingam Shanmughan alias Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP was arrested. It happened the first time outside Bangkok in Thailand on Tuesday 11th September, 2007. But later the officials of the government of Thailand refused to deport him due to immigration rules and regulations and concerns over international law.
But this time the Sri Lankan Government’s operation was successful. Recently a number of media articles have carried reports on the KP affair. Most of Sri Lankan and foreign media have been playing games with the arrest of KP. The investigation is going on well even as huge rumors make their way around the world. According to sources in the Ministry of Defence certain media reports on KP are just not true and most of the reports simply create their own story over the KP issue.
Two days earlier the Government had released the statement to the all state owned media asking them to not write or publish anything on KP without their permission; only they had the right to release any news on KP issues if the news was to come from the Government as the official statement.
At the time the story behind the KP drama was playing out in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. It was originally published by the Sydney based online daily Puthinam.
Meanwhile a reliable source reveals that KP received a telephone call from Daya Mohan, a senior leader of the LTTE who is now in Malaysia.
KP was captured by the Malaysian Special Bureau (MSB ) which is a related organization under Malaysian Royalist Police at The First Tune Hotel at 316 Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman Road in the heart of KL city on Wednesday, August 5th. His was to meet with two visitors – one is the son of former Political Chief of the Tamil Tigers, B. Nadesan and the other his relation from London, England.
According to sources, KP received the telephone call from the Subject who has links with the MSB (after he had answered the Daya Mohan telephone call), and the Subject kept talking with him for more than 14 minutes. Meanwhile most of the road around The First Tune Hotel was under red alert. In the fifteenth minute of his final telephone call KP was captured, and brought to Bangkok Airport with his driver who is called Appu.
Basically only two officers in Sri Lanka’s security establishment knew that the operation was on. One was Maj. General Udaya Perera, Sri Lanka’s Deputy High Commissioner in KL and the other was Maj. Gen. Kapila Hendawitharana, Chief of National Intelligence.
KP at the occasion of V.Prabhakaran's wedding…Around 3.00 pm of 5 August a special call was received from Malaysia on Mr. Gothabhaya Rajapaksha’s mobile phone. On the other side was Maj. Gen. Udaya Perera (who earlier was Director of Operations in the Sri Lankan Army). He broke the news that they had caught KP and brought him to Bangkok airport.
After that the Ministry of Defence arranged the special Sri Lankan Airlines flight with Sri Lanka air force pilots carrying a few senior security people under Col. Shalei. They landed in Bangkok. MSB officers who were in Bangkok waiting for the Sri Lankan team to hand over KP and his driver Appu.Why KP was taken to Bangkok airport from KL? There are two reasons behind it. One, the Malaysian Government wanted to keep their involvements a secret. Second, SLAF pilots were flown several times to Bangkok in the past. In this situation three governments agreed to hand over KP handed to SL in Bangkok airport.
However Thailand has denied all news reports claiming that KP was arrested on their soil. Even Government of Malaysia (GoM) is totally silent over the arrest and their involvements. The GoM, it is believed, has evidence that KP was trying infiltrate the HINDRAF or Hindu Rights Action Force, the Hindu based active political party in Malaysia. In this context GoM is in a fearful situation over a possible uprising among Hindus in Malaysia if they believed reports of their government’s involvements in the KP issue. The GoM fears there will be some explosions in civilian dominated areas targeting the closing down of tourism as tit for tat. Indeed, one of Malaysia’s main sources of income is tourism.
Basically after death of LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran, KP worked hard to restructure the organization. But he made significant mistakes over his manner of communication and making new links with people and organisations. He wrote many things on his own blog site www.ltteir.org and he met several media persons who believed him a lot. Likewise he has communicated with a number of people through email and over the phone. He has worked like a normal person while avoiding warrants against him released by Interpol and India. These activities left a hot trail behind him to follow easily.
However India and Interpol failed on these issues, according to sources updated recently. No foreign intelligence agency has yet asked for KP to be handed over to them for investigation. But China is shocked over KP’s revelation on the LTTE’s weapons deals with the Chinese government, and fears that these revelations will be making trouble in its strategic relations with Sri Lanka as well as India.
There are two significant issues that influenced the capture of KP alive. One is weak points in his manner of communications leaving a trail. The second is Col. Ram, a leader of the Tiger team active in the East, who was used by the Security forces as a tool to get secrets of KP’s. According to sources, Col. Ram had surrendered to the Sri Lankan army in Akkariapattu when he was planning to leave for Malaysia a few weeks ago, but the news was kept a secret by the security forces. The security forces allowed Col. Ram to communicate with other leaders who are abroad as well as with KP till his capture, thereby picking up a lot of useful information. But KP does not still know that Col. Ram has surrendered to Sri Lanka security.
Of course Sri Lankan forces won the battle totally on the ground. Even though the old chapter of the Tamil Tigers is over, it is too early to say that all Tiger elements in this complicated terror network have been wiped out.
(The writer can be reached at ilangamuwa@gmail.com) -Sri Lanka Guardian
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