NAT report

The LTTE - Al Qaeda link

A report prepared by an advisor to the US Government on Terrorism proving links between Al Qaeda Terrorist Network and the LTTE:

Since the beginning of the contemporary wave of terrorism in the Middle East in 1968, terrorist groups differing in their ideologies have forged alliances to achieve tactical aims and objectives. The Al Qaeda- LTTE relationship comes within this category.

·        Al Qaeda is an international group primarily of Middle Eastern nationals located in Asia. Its support and operational network spans about 60 countries. Al Qaeda is driven by Islamic ideology. The group has conducted three land suicide attacks (including the assassination of Ahmed Shah Masood), one maritime suicide attack, and four airborne suicide attacks (Sept 2001 est.).

·        Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is a domestic group fighting to create a mono‑ethnic Tamil state. Its support network disseminating propaganda, recruiting, financing, training, procuring weapons and dual‑technology equipment and shipping ‑ spans about 50 countries. The LTTE is driven by ethnonationalist ideology. The group has conducted 220 land (including the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi Former Prime Minster of India) and maritime attacks (May 2001 est.).

·        The Al Qaeda ‑ LTTE relationship was formed in 1991. Since then three foreign intelligence agencies have reported Al Qaeda ‑ LTTE transactions.

 (1)       Forged/adapted documents:

 The LTTE established a presence in the Philippines in the early l990s for the purpose of purchasing weapons and facilitating its human smuggling operations into Canada. Under Surendren Ponatya Chunjen, the LTTE established a working relationship with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf Group, two groups in the Philippines that have benefited from Al Qaeda training and financial support. The LTTE cell in the Philippines provided Al Qaeda cell in the Philippines led by Ramzi Ahmed Yousef with forged and adapted identity documents. The LTTE has specialized knowledge of forging and adapting visas, passports, and other identity papers. After bombing the World Trade Centre in 1993, Yousef who was based in the Philippines was planning and preparing to launch Oplan Bojinka yet another A1 Qaeda operation in 1994. Oplan Bojinka’s intended targets were bombing of 11 US airliners over the Pacific; assassinating visiting US president Clinton, Pope John Paul the II, and Philippines President Fidel Ramos; destroying several foreign missions; and kidnapping several prominent persons including foreign envoys.

2)  Training:

Throughout the 1990s, reports from Afghanistan confirmed the presence of LTTE members imparting military training to Asian and Arab nationals. This Included:

a)  A report from a British specialist who visited Afghanistan in the early 1990s.

(b)   Debriefing in Musafarabad, Azad Kashmir of a Pakistani Inter‑Services‑Intelligence IISI) officer in 1995

 (c) Debriefing in New Delhi in October 2001 of a member of a Kashmiri group who observed the presence of 10‑15 LTTE trainers in the Shinuwari camp in Afghanistan.

In addition to conducting basic and advanced training conducted inside Afghanistan, Al Qaeda training teams that visited regional conflicts included LTTE members. For instance, Al Qaeda’s training teams that imparted specialized training to MILF and ASG members comprised of LTTE members. The following instances confirm the relationship.

In 1995 an 1998, an LTTE combat tactician and an LTTE explosives expert accompanying groups of A1 Qaeda Arabs trained members of the MILF.

In 1999, an LTTE combat tactician accompanying a group of A1 Qaeda Arabs trained members of the ASG.

One of the trainers has been identified as the same person arrested and charged for possession of narcotics in Italy in the 1980s. [Although the LTTE has denied its role in trafficking narcotics as a source of revenue, V. Mancharan, the current head of the LTTE International Secretariat, Paris, was fined 120,000 francs on March 25, 1985 and was imprisoned for three years in France for possession of heroin. During this period, the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran authorized that his salary be paid to his wife indicating the group’s complicity in the crime.]

At the behest of Al Qaeda, LTTE trained Al Ummah members in Tamil Nadu, India.

 (3)       Shipping and logistics:

The LTTE is one of the few terrorist groups in the world with a state of the art shipping network. Al Qaeda has used LTTE ships to transport weapons and trainees to distant theatres. From 1995 onwards, LTTE ships have transported Al Qaeda weapons to a number of groups.

LTTE ships transported weapons from Karachi provided by Al Qaeda through its affiliate Harakatul Ansar (known as Harakatul Mujahidin after US designation in Oatober 1997). The recipient was ASG.

LTTE ships transported both weapons and trainees (back and forth) to a port in Turkey from Karachi. The weapons were provided by Harkatul Ansar an affiliate of Al Qaeda for the purpose of fighting in Chechnya. The recipient was Al Ansar (Foreign) Mujahidin in Chechnya led by Khatab, a protege of Usama Bin Laden.

(4)       The Al Qaeda ‑ LTTE relationship has enhanced Al Qaeda technologies and tactics. As the world’s leader in suicide terrorism, the LTTE has perfected Al Qaeda’s land and sea suicide technologies and tactics.

Unanswered questions:

Colonel Karuna confirmed In an interview with Thamil Broadcasting Corporation 9th of July 2004 the Norwegian involvement in the LTTE terrorism and funding. Have Norway had a similar relationship with the Al Qaeda?

The Norwegian gift of transmission equipment to the LTTE allegedly also contained V-Sat equipment. This has been denied by the Norwegians. What is the truth?

How many other gifts have LTTE received from Norway?

Have the LTTE received satellitephones?

Have any of the Norwegian gifts been given or sold by the LTTE to other terrorist groups like the Al-Qaeda?

Is it only a coincidence an Al-Qaeda cell in Pakistan used Norwegian made Nera Satellite phones?

Svik demands:

Norway should immediately start en investigation and find the truth of the Norwegian gifts and cooperation between Norway and the LTTE.

Criminal charges must be made against those who has helped the LTTE to finance terrorism, human rights violations and genocide. 

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