Blow to LTTE fundraising overseas

The Federal Court of Canada has ruled that the World Tamil Movement of Ontario and the World Tamil Movement of Quebec should forfeit all their belongings to the Canadian Government.

In a move seen as a huge blow to LTTE activities in Canada, the Court ruled WTM property was “owned or controlled by a terrorist organisation” and therefore had to be forfeited, Canadian media reported.

The verdict marks the official end of the WTM in Canada, which was formed in 1986 and became closely aligned with the LTTE’s bloody campaign for a separate State in Sri Lanka. “In Canada, the WTM is the main front organisation for the LTTE,” Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Corporal Steve Dubreuil wrote in an affidavit.

 “We view this as a very positive ending in the sense that we did disrupt activities of terrorist financing in Canada, so that’s important to us,” RCMP Assistant Commissioner Gilles Michaud said.

 “This decision by the Federal Court confirms that our efforts to disrupt terrorist activity in Canada are working,” said Christopher McCluskey, a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews. “We applaud this decision.” Although the WTM has ceased to function, Assistant Comm. Michaud, head of National Security Criminal Investigations, said the Tigers are still a “group of interest” for RCMP counter-terrorism investigators.