Posted on 08/25/2006 10:58:56 AM PDT by WmShirerAdmirer
There are now seven Tamil-Canadians accused of trying to obtain weapons on behalf of the Tamil Tigers rebel group in Sri Lanka, according to a report.
Police say a man detained in the U.S. earlier this week has now been identified as Canadian, bringing the total to seven Tamil-Canadians suspected of supporting the rebel group, the Toronto Star reported Friday.
U.S. authorities allege Thirukumaran Sinnathamby "used his bank account to launder funds from the LTTE" also known as the Tamil Tigers, which is on Canada's list of terror groups, and helped some of his co-accused to buy technology.
He is also alleged to have established accounts to purchase materials for the Tigers and "arranged to help smuggle scientific magazines" to an unidentified individual in Tiger-dominated areas of Sri Lanka, the newspaper reports.
Two more arrests carried out in the Greater Toronto Area this week brought to 11 the total number of arrests made in Canada and in the United States since last week.
The alleged Tamil Tiger supporters face charges of conspiring to buy weapons to allegedly help the Tamil Tigers in their escalating fight for a separate homeland in Sri Lanka.
The charges against the men also include fundraising and money laundering through "front" charitable organizations and U.S. bank accounts.
Meanwhile, Canada's largest Tamil community group, the Canadian Tamil Congress, says the arrests are not a fair reflection of the more than 300,000 strong Tamil community in Canada.
"It's an isolated incident," said David Poopalapillai, national spokesperson for the congress.
"We are a very law-abiding society. We don't condone violence, we don't condone any illegal activities. We are here to promote peace."
Poopalapillai says the congress supports neither the Sri Lankan government nor the Tamil Tigers.
"The Sri Lankan government is also the biggest part of the problem. What we want is for the international community to intervene and to put more pressure into both parties and bring a settlement," he said.
"We want to promote the peace back in Sri Lanka and also promote the Tamil interests in Canada."
At many as 65,000 people have been killed in the rebels' two-decade war with the Sri Lankan government.
The group has been fighting for an independent state in Sri Lanka since 1983 for the country's ethnic Tamil minority.
A ceasefire was brokered in 2002 to end the bloodshed, but both sides have since returned to fighting, with some of the fiercest violence occurring this year.
The Tamil Tigers are considered a terrorist organization by Canada and the United States.
Canada added the Tamil Tigers to its official list of terrorist organizations in April. The U.S. added the group to its own list in 1997.
Anyone knowledgeable or familiar with this group being in the US, or members being citizens of the US?
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