LTTE suspect appears before US Court

US: A Sri Lankan man accused of trying to send money and weapons including surface-to-air missiles to the LTTE pleaded not guilty to the charges on Thursday in a US court.

Thavarajah Pratheepan, 32, was arrested in Indonesia and extradited to the United States, said Robert Nardoza, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Pratheepan was being held without bail and will reappear before U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie in Brooklyn Federal Court on Jan. 18, Nardoza said.

He faces 15 years in prison if convicted. U.S. officials say the case is connected to the arrest of more than a dozen people last August across the United States following an undercover operation spanning more than 10 countries that probed support for the LTTE.

No trial dates have been set for any of the suspects, Nardoza said.

The LTTE was designated by the United States in 1997 as a foreign terrorist organization.

The suspects travelled between Canada, the United States and Britain and are accused of agreeing to buy military equipment including shoulder-held surface missiles to shoot down Sri Lankan military jets, according to a court document.

The document also accuses the suspects of raising money through front charitable organizations, money laundering and conspiring to help the Tigers bribe its way off the Foreign Terrorist Organization list. Reuters