In spite of losing the war on the ground in Sri Lanka, the LTTE’s international network of financial support was suspected of surviving largely intact, according to the US State Department’s ‘Country Reports on Terrorism for the year 2009′ released yesterday (05 August).
“However, the international network likely suffered a serious blow by the August arrest in Southeast Asia and rendition to Sri Lanka of Selvarajah Patmanathan (aka KP), the LTTE’s principle financier and arms supplier. This network continued to collect contributions from the Tamil Diaspora in North America, Europe, and Australia, where there were reports that some of these contributions were coerced by locally-based LTTE sympathizers. The LTTE also used Tamil charitable organizations as fronts for fundraising,” stated the report.
The Sri Lankan government effectively dismantled much of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), after cornering remaining LTTE fighters and several hundred thousand civilians in the northeast of the island, the US report said.
