Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

The C4i is equipped with three 32-inch LCD screens and two 46-inch LCD screens. A total of 88 screens have been installed at this Centre to help the police keep a vigilant eye on the entire city of 20 million people. To ensure coordination among all the 17 security agencies involved, their representatives will be positioned at the C4i Centre.

A record number of 7,500 policemen and hundreds of elite commandos and other paramilitary forces are being deployed in and around the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main venue where the opening and closing ceremonies will take place. A Mini Remotely Operated Vehicle (MROV) is being installed here for the opening ceremony.

The MROV will pick up any object suspected to be an explosive, take it into isolation and defuse it, thus minimizing possible danger to the public and to scores of Bomb Disposal Squad officials operating it.

Buses ferrying athletes and delegates to Games venues will be guarded by two vehicles, one each in the front and at the back. Specially trained commandos will be traveling in these vehicles. Two specially trained commandoes will travel in each bus to guard its passengers in case of an attack. Helicopters with armed commandos will keep an eye on all the venues and routes being used to transport the athletes and delegates.

The commandos will be armed with special gadgets and ammunition to tackle any attack. They have been trained to secure the athletes and delegates in case of an attack. The buses will also be fitted with special gadgetry. To prevent attacks similar to the one on Sri Lankan cricketers in Pakistan s Lahore city last year, the drivers of these buses will not stop them anywhere in between the Games venues and the Games Village, where the athletes and officials are staying. The buses will ply on dedicated lanes connecting the venues with the Village.

The traffic signals along the routes used by the buses will be operated manually during the movement of athletes and delegates. These routes will be manned round the clock by a team of Delhi police and federal paramilitary personnel.

Indian officials in charge of Games security say there is no specific threat either to the Games or to athletes from any of the participating countries. But they are not taking any chances. Each of the 574 vehicles that will be used to transport the athletes and delegates will be put through an anti-sabotage test every morning, while each of the 23 Games venues will be completely sanitized seven days ahead of an event.

Rendering an indispensable service since the day of its inception, the valiant No.07 Transport Helicopter Squadron of SLAF Base Hingurakgoda recently celebrated its 16th anniversary on 14 September, 2010 with a shramadhana campaign and an alms giving.

The Squadron s anniversary is celebrated with lighter hearts and spirit this year, with a focus on social responsibility entrusted to its care, after shouldering an immense workload during the Humanitarian Operations.

The main social responsibility project launched by the Squadron took place at Minihiri Kantha Surekum Madhyasthanaya a home for women with special needs at Boralukanda, Hingurakgoda where a shramadhana campaign was carried our subsequent to the working parade. The campaign was aimed at clearing the area surrounding the enclosure of the home and mending its barbed wire fence. Preceding the campaign, an alms giving was also held by the Squadron as part of its anniversary celebrations.

History

The Squadron which was established in 1994 at the same premises was initially named as the No. 401 Squadron. Its main task at the time was to facilitate operational requirements in the Northern and Eastern sectors based on the directives given by No. 04 Wing at SLAF Base, Katunayaka regarding VIP/VVIP needs.

On 23 March, 1996 the Squadron was renamed as : No. 07 Helicopter Squadron, renowned for its successful flying operations. Presently the home base of the Squadron still remains at SLAF Base Hingurakgoda, but the Squadron also maintains two main attachments at SLAF Unit Palaly and SLAF Base Anuradhapura.

In its initial stage the team was equipped with only a single Bell 206 Jet Ranger. But subsequently it expanded to a fleet of five Bell 206 and ten Bell 212 helicopters and a team of 26 officers and 121 airmen as its strength. The first Commanding officer of this illustrious Squadron was Squadron Leader KVB Jayampath. At present it is commanded by Wing Commander WRMP Jayawardhane, one of its pioneering members.

Despite being in existence for a relatively short duration, the service and achievements rendered by the Squadron to safeguard the motherland increased by leaps and bounds during the escalation of LTTE hostilities. During the humanitarian operations the Squadron maintained attachments at various locations to meet operational requirements of the Security Forces. They were namely: SLAF Unit Palaly, SLAF Base Anuradhapura, SLAF Base China Bay, SLAF Unit Palavi, SLAF Base Vavuniya and SL Army Headquarters in Thalladi.

Contribution towards the Humanitarian Operation

The No. 07 Transport Helicopter Squadron played a major role in the security operations since the beginning of the separatist war. Its rotary aircraft played a vital role in successfully annihilating enemy strongholds using Bell 206 Jet Rangers and Bell 212s which were converted to gunships.

They were the cavalry for the infantry who cleared enemy resistance when and where it was needed, swiftly and precisely. At the same time they were the flying ambulances which gave hope for the wounded. During the humanitarian operation alone, 16337 casualties were evacuated (Casevac) by the Squadron. The pilots, engineers, gunners and technicians of the Squadron did a tremendous job, silently serving the nation.

In addition to Casevac and other missions, the Squadron also undertook a series of daring rescue missions behind the enemy lines to rescue Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) teams which were operating deep in the enemy territory.

The first rescue mission was to evacuate a Commando LRRP team from the northern region of Vavuniya on 22 November, 2001. The Bell 212 which flew from its home Base was Captained by Flight Lieutenant Sudam Kaluarchchi with Flight Lieutenant PAV Samantha as his Co Pilot.

Coming after a lapse of six years, the second special rescue mission to evacuate LRRP members was launched on 02 July, 2007 in the Northern Wanni region south east of Nedunkerni. The operation which took flight at twelve noon saw Flight Lieutenant KADAC Kuruwita captaining the Bell 212, with Flight Lieutenant SR Jayaratne acting as his co-pilot. The two gunners on the mission were Corporal Wickramasinghe and Leading Air Craftsman Jayaratne.

Three LRRP members were evacuated by No. 07 Squadron at north east of Mamaduwa on 23 July, 2008 as part of its third special rescue mission. Flight Lieutenant AR Pathirage was the Captain of the Bell 212 aircraft used for this decisive mission while Flight Lieutenant CG Hiripitiya was the Co-pilot. Corporal Dissanayake and Corporal Ratnayake were the two gunners who flew in this mission.

29 July, 2008 saw yet another daring rescue operation taking place to evacuate an LRRP team from the north west of Mankulam. A Bell 212 helicopter was used in this rescue as well and the Captain was Flight Lieutenant GGCP Gunaratne. Flight Lieutenant AR Pathriage was the co-pilot, while the two gunners on board were Corporal Dissanayake and Corporal Sanjeewa.

The fifth and final LRRP team evacuation mission came at the tail end of November 2008, on the 27th in the West of Oddusudan. The Bell 212 used for the task was Captained by Squadron Leader NHDN Dias while Flight Lieutenant GGCP Gunaratne was his Co-pilot. The duo Corporal Dissananayke and Corporal Thrisinghe joined this mission as gunners.

Risking their lives amidst terrorist attacks, the brave pilots and gunners from the No. 07 Squadron were successful in landing the helicopters in LTTE terrain and safely returning with the rescued LRRP teams on all occasions. this Sqaudron has since its inception been the 'first on the scene' at all times not only in war but also in times of natural disaster.The role it played during the devastating Tsunami, the terrible landslides and the many other events of no glory but pain will be etched in the memory of those whome the Squadron carried to safety. During its short but eventful history it lost many a brave crew in valiant missions in support of the men on the field.

Thanks to decades of very sketchy media coverage in this country, not much is really known in Australia about the civil war which raged for many years in Sri Lanka between the Tamil Tigers (the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, or LTTE ) and the Sri-Lankan government, so it may be useful for readers of these pages to have some background on this in the context of our current series of articles on counterterrorism issues and the implications for Australian policy.

The Tamils comprise the Hindu minority in Sri-Lanka, as compared to the Buddhist Sinhalese majority, and so the long running civil war effectively was a war between this Hindu minority and the Buddhist majority government. Like many such affairs, it has been characterized by the extreme use of violence, including suicide bombings, against indiscriminate civilian and government targets, and has consequently cost many lives and seriously damaged the Sri-Lankan economy.

The magnitude of this conflict, in both human and economic losses, can be guessed at by its duration, which lasted for decades from the 1980s to its purported conclusion in May 2009, with the declaration of victory over the LTTE by the Sri-Lankan government.
The South Asian Terrorism Portal SATP , in conjunction with the Institute for Conflict Management, has produced a very informative summary of the origins, history and modus operandi of the LTTE, which I would commend to everyone, as is the Virtual Library of Sri-Lanka and SPUR Australia ( the Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka ), which together provide an excellent overview of the history and horsepower of this movement.

This whole issue is particularly timely in Australia this year, because of the fact that what some have termed our year of the boat people started out in early 2010 with a boatload of illegal Tamil immigrants, claiming refugee status, and brought to our shores by the illegal people smuggling industry. Since then, we have seen a steadily increasing stream of illegal immigrants, dominated by, on the one hand, Islamic illegals from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somali, and Sudan, and on the other hand by Tamil refugees, the latter apparently fleeing both the Sri-Lankan and Indian security forces in the wake of the purported victory of the Sri-Lankan Government over the LTTE referred to above.

The issue of how many of these Tamil refugees are terrorists and/or criminals is quite rightly a hotly debated issue, especially given that our security and immigration services (and those of Sri-Lanka and India) are indicating that an unspecified number of these Tamil illegals do in fact have terrorist and/or criminal connections.

It is important therefore that we all become as well informed as possible regarding the real nature of the LTTE, so we are aware of the consequences to Australia of getting these decisions wrong as to who we allow into the country under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.

We have recently in these pages focused on analysis of Islamic terrorism and illegal immigration, and as serious as this is, it is not the only form of terrorist threat of which we need to be aware.

For example, most Australians would be completely unaware that the SATP describes the Hindu LTTE as arguably the most lethal and well organised terrorist group in the world , which has been proscribed, designated or banned as a terrorist group by a number of governments India, Malaysia, USA, Canada, UK, and Australia all of which are in fact countries where the LTTE has significant terrorist infrastructure for disseminating propaganda, raising funds, and procuring and shipping supplies to support their terrorist campaign in Sri Lanka.

Interestingly, the SATP notes that the LTTE appears to have had its origins in a radical Tamil student protest movement in the 1970s, but by the 1980s became highly sophisticated with the LTTE leadership becoming organised along a two-tier structure: a military wing and a subordinate political wing both overseen by a central governing committee, which has the responsibility for directing and controlling several specific subdivisions, including, an amphibious group (the Sea Tigers), an airborne group, (known as the Air Tigers), an elite fighting wing (known as the Charles Anthony Regiment), a suicide commando unit (the Black Tigers), a highly secretive intelligence group, and a political office. The central governing committee also has an International Secretariat, which is in charge of the LTTE s global network.

It certainly has been, at its height before victory was declared over it by the Sri-Lankan government in 2009, an extremely dangerous and effective terrorist movement, with over 18,000 guerillas (including women and children, with over 4,000 women fighters being killed in the two-decade long conflict, and as much as 60% of its fighters being made up of children under 18), according to the Sri-Lankan government. Indeed, it is noteworthy that the LTTE was successful in assassinating the Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, in 1991 in the Indian Tamil state of Tamil Nadu during an election campaign, by a female LTTE suicide bomber who greeted him among well wishers before detonating her suicide vest and killing him, along with many innocent bystanders, including members of the media.

More worryingly, and as evidence of what both the Sri Lankan Government and the Indian Peace-keeping Forces were dealing with during the conflict, the SATP notes that, apart from the military operations which the LTTE conducted in the North-eastern parts of the country against Government forces and the highly successful suicide operations in other parts of the country, a major aspect of the LTTE s operations has always been its highly developed publicity, fund-raising and military procurement strategies.

In this regard, it runs a wide network of publicity and propaganda activities with offices and cells located in at least 54 countries. The largest and most important centres are located in leading western states with large Tamil expatriate communities, most notably the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Canada and Australia. In addition to these states, the LTTE is also known to be represented in countries as far-flung as Cambodia, Burma, South Africa and Botswana.

Its publicity networks covering Europe, Australia and North America also include radio and TV satellites.

In addition, the LTTE appears to have been highly effective at major fundraising, with the majority of financial support coming from six main areas, all of which contain large Tamil Diasporas:

Switzerland, Canada, Australia, the UK, the US, and the Scandinavian countries. There also have been reports that the LTTE raises money through drug running, particularly heroin from Southeast and Southwest Asia, as it is in a particularly advantageous position to traffic narcotics due to the highly efficient international network it has developed to smuggle munitions around the world, with many of these arms routes passing either directly through or very close to major drug producing and transit centres, including Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, southern China, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The SATP also notes that military and arms procurement has played a vital part in the LTTE s battle against the Government forces, and the heart of these operations is, incredibly, a highly secretive shipping network, with ships frequently visiting Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, South Africa, Burma, Turkey, France, Italy and Ukraine, scouting for arms. More alarmingly, in addition to setting up a number of lucrative businesses, the LTTE apparently also established a state-of-the-art boatyard that manufactured a dozen different boats, including a mini-submarine for debussing divers.

It also set up a parallel civil administration within its territory in northern Sri-Lanka by establishing structures such as a police force, law courts, postal services, banks, administrative offices, television and radio broadcasting station, etc. SATP notes that the most prominent elements of the LTTE state structure is the Tamil Eelam Judiciary and the Tamil Eelam Police . The Tamil Eelam Police , with its headquarters at Kilinochchi, was formed in year 1993, and reportedly has several wings, including traffic, crime prevention, crime detection, information bureau, administration and a special force. LTTE cadres collect taxes, its courts administer their version of justice and the entire law and order machinery is LTTE-controlled.

Now, as to the present status of the LTTE s activities and objectives, the International Crisis Group, according to the Thomson Reuters Foundation on 23 February this year has concluded that the Tamil population in Sri Lanka does actually in fact appear to have been exhausted by the decades of armed struggle and that new diaspora initiatives (which) attempt to carry forward the struggle for an independent state in more transparent and democratic ways (are) out of step with the wishes and needs of Tamils in Sri Lanka . But importantly, it does go on to point out that even though Tamils in Sri Lanka currently have little appetite for a return to armed struggle should the Sri Lankan state continue to fail to respond to their collective aspirations, some may eventually seek a solution through violence and could find willing partners in the diaspora .

Thus, although at the moment the LTTE would appear to be on the outer in Sri Lanka itself, it could easily re-emerge, either directly, or in a modified form, if the Tamil population does not have its political and economic marginalization issues addressed by the Sri-Lankan Government, and that the Tamil diaspora in Australia and elsewhere may be a critical part of its ability to resume its terrorist operations when circumstances dictate.
In view of all the above, the nub of this issue for Australian immigration and counterterrorism policy is whether the LTTE is indeed actually a thing of the past, and out , or merely just down and waiting their chance for a resurgence, and therefore whether there are dangers for our national security in allowing refugee status to be accorded to illegal immigrants with known connections to the LTTE.

Given its large professional organisation of military and political wings, together with the widespread international Tamil diaspora (which as noted above, is significantly represented already in Australia) which is heavily involved in funding, propaganda and arms supply, and which the LTTE has specifically developed internationally in over 20 years of operations, it would certainly appear very difficult to believe that the LTTE is really actually a thing of the past, especially given the relatively recent nature of the purported cease fire and victory declared by the Sri-Lankan Government in just May last year. In the light of these facts, we would be well to be highly suspicious that it is in fact more likely to be merely waiting for their chance to regain an opportunity to recommence their terrorist activities, and are merely using their diaspora status, here and elsewhere, to facilitate this waiting game.

For example, we need to ask the critical question:

Why are the Tamil illegals in the boats fleeing both the Sri-Lankan and Indian security forces in the first place, when those security forces have offered peaceful settlement and re-integration to all those Tamils who have not been directly involved in terrorist or criminal activity?

We are well justified therefore, in subjecting all illegal Tamil refugees to close scrutiny for any direct or indirect LTTE connections, for if we fail to give such scrutiny, we may well be allowing terrorists and/or criminals to live among us and thereby endanger our national security, as well as contributing to the future destabilisation of Sri-Lanka, a fellow member of the Commonwealth, and a generally peaceful Buddhist nation.

The North Korean Government aided the LTTE in procuring weapons since 1997 until the end of the conflict, International Counter Terrorism expert Prof. Rohan Gunaratna alleged yesterday.

Speaking before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) Prof. Gunaratna said it was LTTE Auditor/ Accountant Ponniah Anandarajah who was involved in procuring arms through the North Korean Government to the LTTE. He was operating from outside Thailand and almost all the major weapons were procured from North Korea, he said. Prof. Gunaratna added that it is important for the Sri Lankan Government to let North Korea know that they are aware of the information. He said apart from the propaganda and fund raising activities which the LTTE conducted globally in the form of front cover and sympathetic organizations, the procurement and shipping of arms were heavily carried out through the accumulated funds. Although the LTTE exploited some of the Middle Eastern and Western European countries for arms procurement, they initially procured their arms from India and the Indian Government facilitated it, Prof. Gunaratna said.

Unfortunately at this point, Sri Lanka did not understand the importance of maintaining a good relationship with India, he said. Prof. Gunaratna stressed on the importance maintaining a good relationship with India if peace is to be established in Sri Lanka.

International counter terrorism expert Prof. Rohan Gunaratna said the Sri Lankan Government should at least now take steps to issue a white paper to counter the accusations of alleged war crimes during the final stages of the war.

As a country Sri Lanka failed to project the ground reality of what happened and the LTTE took advantage of the situation. The Government should have issued a white paper on the fifth no-fire zone and the failure was a miserable letdown on the part of Sri Lankan leaders, he said speaking before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) yesterday.

Therefore, he said the Government should at least take steps now to issue a white paper stating the number of casualties and fatalities during the war. Based on his interviews with the LTTE doctors and coroners and doctors who operated in the areas of the final clash, Prof. Gunaratne said that the number of civilian casualties would only be a maximum of about 1400 although the UN still quotes the number as 7000.

LTTE International network still active

Prof. Gunaratna said although the LTTE had been dismantled militarily within Sri Lanka, the global network of the LTTE still remained untouched. There are some 42 LTTE officers operating in North America itself. The main mistake which the Governments in Sri Lanka have been making over the years is focusing solely on defeating the LTTE militarily.

Therefore no effort was made to dismantle the international network, he pointed out. He remarked that it was the LTTE member Nediyawan operating in Norway who currently runs the LTTE structure although Selvarasa Pathmanathan aka KP is currently known as the successor to LTTE leader Prabhakaran Nediyawan promotes Prabhakaran s agenda and hence there is no significant shift in LTTE leadership.