Home16 March 1998
Right Hon «Fname» «Lname» MP,
House Of Commons,
London SW1.
"By steadily reducing the habitat in which terrorism thrives, we can hope to make terrorists first an endangered species, and ultimately, an extinct one" (U.S Secretary of State, 8 October 1997).
Dear «Fname» «Lname»,
We would like to draw your attention to the fact that one of the World's most ruthless terrorist organisations, namely the Liberation Tigers Of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), is allowed to legally operate in the UK and raise an estimated 25 million pounds annually .
The LTTE has been waging a terrorist campaign for nearly a quarter of a century in Sri Lanka, having evaded every attempt by successive democratically elected Governments to achieve a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Sri Lanka. All other Tamil groups and parties have returned to the democratic process and stood in the recent local elections held in January 1998, except for the LTTE who insist on continuing a barbaric terrorist campaign all over Sri Lanka. To date, the LTTE has massacred over twenty thousand defenceless men, women and children, including members of the clergy. Entire villages were massacred in order to ethnically cleanse the Northern and Eastern provinces . In addition the LTTE is notorious for its kidnap of children as young as ten in order to forcefully use them in their campaign of terror .
A major source of funding to sustain this terrorist campaign comes from smuggling of drugs into the UK , trading in arms with other international terrorist groups and by smuggling of illegal immigrants to the UK . The escalation in their campaign of terror is reflected by their atrocities against civilians in the last six months, which have included a truck bomb on 15 October 1997 in the car park of an international hotel killing over 15 and injuring over 100, including some British citizens. Bombing of one the holiest Buddhist shrines in the World on 25 January 1998 killing 13 and injuring 23 people. A bus bomb covered with ball bearings in a crowded city centre outside a school on 4 March 1998, killing 40 people including five school children and injuring over 250 people.
The LTTE is able to carry out their terrorist campaign of killing and wanton destruction with such vigour due to the successful fund raising activities by its international headquarters based in East London. A significant proportion of the funds are raised by defrauding the British welfare state . LTTE has a well organised network for smuggling and settling bogus asylum seekers in the UK, who are then charged an 'LTTE Tax' to support their war effort. There are hundreds of LTTE terrorists living in the UK as refugees in contravention of the U.N Convention on refugees, which does not warrant granting of refugee status to terrorists.
Number of countries around the World including U.S.A, Canada, Malaysia, India and Sri Lanka have banned the LTTE, all associated front organisations and fund raising activities. US Sate department made the following statement while banning the LTTE along with 29 other terrorist organisations on 8 October 1997,
"The steps we are taking today of cracking down on fund raising for terror and of banning terrorist from our shores are steps we urge other countries to take within their jurisdiction. By steadily reducing the habitat in which terrorism thrives, we can hope to make terrorists first an endangered species, and ultimately, an extinct one".
As a responsible member of the international community, Britain has a moral duty to assist a fellow Commonwealth nation in its fight against this group of international terrorists. Sri Lankans are paying daily with their lives for the unwillingness of the British Government to close down the LTTE activities in the UK. We urge you to take all necessary steps to rectify this injustice. We understand that the British Government is planning to bring in new legislation to curb fund raising for international terrorists in approximately two years. However, in the case of the LTTE this could well be too little and too late.
If you need further information on this matter or if we can assist you in any way
possible, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Thank you.