DIFFERENT ANGLE by Kenneth Rijock
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested the head of the American branch of the LTTE Tamil Tigers in New York, on federal charges of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation. Kurunakaran Kandasamy, age 50, also known as "Karuna," who was taken into custody in Queens, New York, allegedly oversaw LTTE activities in the United States, including fundraising. He faces a maximum of fifteen years in federal prison. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, more commonly known as the Tamil Tigers, are a designated terrorist group, and have engaged in suicide bombings, political assassinations, and other terrorist tactics.
The charging document says that Kandasamy " covertly operated within the United States, drawing on America's financial resources and technological advances, to further its [LTTE] war of terror in Sri Lanka and elsewhere."
The Defendant allegedly operated a front organisation in the United States, known as the World Tamil Coordinating Committee, or WTCC. The LTTE is involved in global activities:
- Money laundering
- Smuggling arms, explosives and equipment into LTTE-held territory in Sri Lanka
- Spreading pro-LTTE propaganda.
He is also alleged to have assisted LTTE intelligence agents in researching and investigating military technology in the United States, and coordinating meetings in LTTE-controlled Sri Lankan territory between American supporters having engineering, technology, weapons and medical fields, and LTTE leadership.
The facts and opinions stated in this article are those of the author and not those of World-Check. World-Check does not warrant the accuracy of any facts and opinions stated in this article, does not endorse them, and accepts no responsibility for them.
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