Foreign Minister wants Gulf Arab States to ban LTTE

Heba Kandil

DOHA: Sri Lanka said yesterday it wants Gulf Arab states to ban the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and starve them of funds by cracking down on members who force Tamil expatriates in the region to chip in for its activities.

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, in Doha to attend a conference on cooperation among Asian nations, also called on the international community to press the group back to the negotiations table. "In Qatar there are quite a lot of Tamil people who have reported that they have been intimidated by a few members of the LTTE," Samaraweera told Reuters after talks with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani in Doha.

"The (group) should be listed by the EU (as a terrorist organisation) and I think it should also be listed in Gulf countries," he said.

"We are now hoping the international community will bring all pressure possible to bring them back to the table. Because we don't actually see anything other than a negotiated settlement."

The European Union agreed in principle this month to blacklist the LTTE as a terrorist organisation after a wave of attacks on the military.

The LTTE is already outlawed by the United States, Britain, Canada and India.

Samaraweera said the EU, where the bulk of Tamil expatriates lived, should shut down Tigers offices and freeze their assets.

"I would say the first thing is to cut off the fundraising capabilities. Tamil people contribute not because they are supporters of the LTTE, but because they are intimidated and threatened if they do not give money," he said.

"If families living abroad do not pay up, their relatives living back in Sri Lanka are usually threatened."

Qatar, Wednesday, Reuters