Lawyers for the federal government revealed Thursday that at least two of the 76 men who came to Canada illegally last month are members of the Tamil Tigers, a group banned in this country as a terrorist organization.

Until now, the Canada Border Services Agency had not directly linked any of the Sri Lankan nationals on board the ship to the Tigers, although one expert witness who has testified at Vancouver immigration hearings has made the connection.

The migrants were found aboard a ship seized off the coast of British Columbia on Oct. 17.

Lawyers made the admission about the two alleged terrorists at a hearing Thursday. The government has placed restrictions on naming any of the men involved.

When the ship was seized, it bore the name Ocean Lady. But investigators said that the vessel is actually the Princess Easwary, owned by the Tamil Tigers and once used to transport arms for Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka.

Defence lawyers have argued it cannot be assumed that all the men on board guilty by association.

`Is it fair to continue to hold [my client] in detention for the convenience of the minister as they investigate this?` immigration lawyer Larry Smeets asked Thursday.

`I argued strongly today `no.` But our arguments weren`t accepted.`

Lawyers want to question government expert

One migrant told CBC News between hearings that he had no idea where the ship was headed, just that he had to get out of Sri Lanka. Another migrant claimed the Tigers killed many people in his family.

Defence lawyers were also taking aim at a key adviser to the Canadian government in this case, Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, a Singapore-based think-tank.

Gunaratna told CBC News in an interview from Singapore that the Tigers were trying to regroup in Canada and continue their war against the Sri Lankan government.

Lawyers for the men were asking to cross-examine Gunaratna, because, they said, his assertions were given so much credence by the government.

The Tamil Tigers were defeated in May after a violent, 23-year secessionist insurgency against the Sri Lankan government.