rapa
05-14-2007, 12:43 PM
The Tamil Tigers terrorist group has been aggressively fundraising in Montreal using a sophisticated pre-authorized payment scheme and other methods to collect money from the city's 25,000-strong Tamil community, according to the RCMP.
Documents recently unsealed and filed in a Quebec court provide the first look inside an ongoing RCMP investigation called Project CRIBLE that is probing complaints that a Montreal nonprofit group has been working with the Tamil Tigers to raise money for civil war in Sri Lanka.
Launched in 2003 by the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team in Quebec, the investigation is examining several prominent members of the World Tamil Movement (WTM) in Montreal suspected of soliciting money for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE).
"Known as Tamil Tigers, members of the WTM in Montreal are very active in fundraising activities for the WTM. People from the community are intimidated by them and feel obliged to give donations, as they know that these individuals are in fact working for the LTTE," writes RCMP officer Denis Boudreau in an affidavit used to obtain a search warrant.
The Tamil Tigers are on Canada's official terrorist list, meaning it is illegal to raise money for the group. No charges have been laid and none of the allegations has been proven in court. Yesterday, the leader of the WTM in Montreal, Manivannan Karunananthaswamy, said he could not comment because of the continuing investigation.
The LTTE is a guerrilla group fighting for independence for the ethnic Tamil minority on the tiny island of Sri Lanka, formerly called Ceylon.
The Tigers have been condemned internationally for terrorist tactics that include suicide bombings, ethnic cleansing, political assassinations and the recruitment of children.
Canada has one of the world's largest populations of Sri Lankan Tamils, and front organizations that support the Tigers operate in the country the same way Sikh extremists once used Canadian charities and non-profit groups to disguise their fight for independence. "Canada is a place of choice for these organizations, considering that it regroups the biggest Tamil community outside of Sri Lanka," the RCMP affidavit says.
Toronto has traditionally been the hub of LTTE activity in Canada, but the RCMP affidavit suggests the Tigers have shifted at least some of their activities to Montreal. According to the police document, fundraising initiatives in Montreal include:
- Threatening those who do not contribute to the cause of Tamil independence. A letter containing death threats was circulated in the Montreal Tamil community in September, 2003, police said. Signed by the "Patriot Army of Eelam," it accused individuals of being traitors because they were not supporting the WTM. Police suspect the WTM was behind it.
- Soliciting large donations from Tamil-owned businesses and Tamil community members. The WTM claims the money is for hospitals, schools and orphanages, but "contrary to Tamil Tiger propaganda, the money collected in Canada does not reach the poor people in Sri Lanka, even in regions controlled by the LTTE," the RCMP affidavit alleges.
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/idl/ntnp/20070510/ntnp_20070510_a006_donationsforced_13767_mi0001.jp g
Rebel Tamil Tigers patrol an area they control in Sri Lanka. An RCMP report says Canadian Tamil individuals and businesses are forced by the Tigers to give money to a Tiger front organization here.
more>> (http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=d0baa5b1-bfa3-4bbe-87a8-a406fefadbd3&k=50987&p=1)
Documents recently unsealed and filed in a Quebec court provide the first look inside an ongoing RCMP investigation called Project CRIBLE that is probing complaints that a Montreal nonprofit group has been working with the Tamil Tigers to raise money for civil war in Sri Lanka.
Launched in 2003 by the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team in Quebec, the investigation is examining several prominent members of the World Tamil Movement (WTM) in Montreal suspected of soliciting money for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE).
"Known as Tamil Tigers, members of the WTM in Montreal are very active in fundraising activities for the WTM. People from the community are intimidated by them and feel obliged to give donations, as they know that these individuals are in fact working for the LTTE," writes RCMP officer Denis Boudreau in an affidavit used to obtain a search warrant.
The Tamil Tigers are on Canada's official terrorist list, meaning it is illegal to raise money for the group. No charges have been laid and none of the allegations has been proven in court. Yesterday, the leader of the WTM in Montreal, Manivannan Karunananthaswamy, said he could not comment because of the continuing investigation.
The LTTE is a guerrilla group fighting for independence for the ethnic Tamil minority on the tiny island of Sri Lanka, formerly called Ceylon.
The Tigers have been condemned internationally for terrorist tactics that include suicide bombings, ethnic cleansing, political assassinations and the recruitment of children.
Canada has one of the world's largest populations of Sri Lankan Tamils, and front organizations that support the Tigers operate in the country the same way Sikh extremists once used Canadian charities and non-profit groups to disguise their fight for independence. "Canada is a place of choice for these organizations, considering that it regroups the biggest Tamil community outside of Sri Lanka," the RCMP affidavit says.
Toronto has traditionally been the hub of LTTE activity in Canada, but the RCMP affidavit suggests the Tigers have shifted at least some of their activities to Montreal. According to the police document, fundraising initiatives in Montreal include:
- Threatening those who do not contribute to the cause of Tamil independence. A letter containing death threats was circulated in the Montreal Tamil community in September, 2003, police said. Signed by the "Patriot Army of Eelam," it accused individuals of being traitors because they were not supporting the WTM. Police suspect the WTM was behind it.
- Soliciting large donations from Tamil-owned businesses and Tamil community members. The WTM claims the money is for hospitals, schools and orphanages, but "contrary to Tamil Tiger propaganda, the money collected in Canada does not reach the poor people in Sri Lanka, even in regions controlled by the LTTE," the RCMP affidavit alleges.
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/idl/ntnp/20070510/ntnp_20070510_a006_donationsforced_13767_mi0001.jp g
Rebel Tamil Tigers patrol an area they control in Sri Lanka. An RCMP report says Canadian Tamil individuals and businesses are forced by the Tigers to give money to a Tiger front organization here.
more>> (http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=d0baa5b1-bfa3-4bbe-87a8-a406fefadbd3&k=50987&p=1)