U.S. Senate Investigation Reveals Eritrea Providing Military Aid to Sri Lanka Tamil Tiger Rebels
Fri, 2007-08-31 07:47
Daya Gamage ? US National Correspondent Asian Tribune
Washington, D.C. 31 August (Asiantribune.com): A
United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee report reveals that the Government of Eritrea is providing direct military assistance to Sri Lanka`s separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.
The Senate report does not generalize that military assistance is coming from `Eritrea` but authoritatively says `Government of Eritrea` providing `direct military aid` to the Sri Lankan rebels.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee came to this conclusion, among other wide-ranging conclusions and recommendations, after sending six of its staff attached to the Republican Party committee members last year to twenty countries in Asia, Africa, Middle East and Latin America to do a study of American military assistance to combat terrorism, the State and Defense Department coordination in disbursing such assistance to foreign nations and the role of American ambassador presiding over such assistance.
This is the first occasion that an influential and powerful senate committee such as foreign relations has arrived at a conclusion when discussing the Tamil Tiger activities in Sri Lanka and the threat that it posses to this South Asian island-nation`s territorial integrity, sovereignty and her near-six decade old democratic system in identifying a member nation of the United Nations providing military aid against another member of the same World Body which has a legitimate democratically elected government to facilitate a rebel group fighting for a separate state.
The then chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Richard Lugar, now the Ranking Member of the same committee after the Democratic majority in the Senate took over the control of all committees of the Senate in January 2007, made the findings of his staff available for Congressional record on 15 December 2006 with copies to the White House, State and Defense Departments.
Following is the determination of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on the Asian Region in which Sri Lanka is mentioned:
?Asia`s desire to remain independent from great power manipulation is strong. Anti-Americanism has been tempered by widespread approval of the U.S. emergency response to the December, 2004 earthquake and tsunami that killed tens of thousands of people in the region. The United States quickly combined civilian and military teams in what is reputed both within and outside government to be one of the most effective international disaster responses that the U.S. government, along with the rest of the international community, has ever mounted.
?The terrorist threat in Southeast Asia is significant. Threats against U.S. embassies and other U.S.-affiliated institutions are taken seriously. Terrorist plots against U.S. and Southeast Asian interests have been foiled, and police forces have identified, arrested and prosecuted dozens of terrorists. Terrorist activity in the region has killed and maimed many, Americans and non-Americans alike. Governments work at varying levels with the U.S. government and each other to share information and resources in combating what is ultimately viewed as a common enemy.
?In Sri Lanka, there are no direct threats to American interests, terrorist or otherwise. An escalating conflict, however, between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (
LTTE) is now on the verge of outright civil war. Continual uncertainty and eruptions of violence are indirectly affecting Americans in the country, but Americans, as of this date, are not direct targets. As Sri Lanka is an island nation, anti-government insurgents primarily receive smuggled military arms and hardware via boat, from
Indonesia, among other countries. The government of Eritrea reportedly provides direct assistance to the LTTE. (Emphasis mine)
Following is Senator Richard Lugar`s Letter of Transmittal in releasing the investigative findings for Congressional records, and for actions by the White House and Departments of State and Defense:
Embassies as Command Posts in the Anti-Terror Campaign
A Report to Members of the Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate
Richard G. Lugar, Chairman
One Hundred Ninth Congress, Second Session December 15, 2006
