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CMP Commissioner says:
Tigers arriving in Canadian waters raises security concerns
Walter Jayawardhana
Canada Commissioner of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) William
Elliot said that security experts fear the migrant smuggling ship
intercepted off the West Canadian coast could be the first wave of
defeated Tiger fighters fleeing for safe haven following their
devastating defeat in May this year, in Sri Lanka.
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William Elliot |
The RCMP Commissioner said the very arrival of the defeated
terrorists in a ship owned by them and the potential for others to
follow raises serious security concerns for Canada.
William Elliot was addressing on Friday an Ottawa Conference of
security and intelligence experts.
Canada, he added, also home to an estimated 250,000 Tamils and one of
the few places in the world where LTTE terrorists and supporters might
seek to hide in plain sight, and potentially launch terrorist
activities.
Terrorism experts say, the Commissioner said, the migrant smuggling
ship intercepted off the West Coast carrying 76 Sri Lankan Tamil men
this month is owned by the outlawed LTTE.
Some fear it may be the first wave of defeated Tiger fighters fleeing
for safe haven following the end of Sri Lanka’s 25-year civil war.
Although it is too early to reach conclusions whether any of the
people pose a security threat to Canada, the fact that they have come,
and the potential for others to follow, raises security concerns, said
Elliott.
Even if the object of potential LTTE terrorists in Canada was not
specifically Canadian, the results could still be devastating, he said. |
