04-26-2007, 11:13 AM
<b>Suspected US head of Tamil Tigers arrested in NY</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->New York, April 26: The suspected head of the U.S. branch of Sri Lankan rebel group the Tamil Tigers was arrested in New York on Wednesday and charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
Karunakaran Kandasamy could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted, prosecutors at the federal court in the New York borough of Brooklyn said.
As the director of the U.S. branch of the Tamil Tigers, which is based in Queens, New York, Kandasamy oversaw the organization's activities, including its fund-raising, prosecutors said.
The rebels, known officially as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, have been fighting for decades for an independent homeland on the north and east of the teardrop-shaped island in the Indian Ocean.
Since 1983 the fighting has killed some 68,000 people, including more than 4,000 in the past 16 months. The LTTE is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States
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Karunakaran Kandasamy could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted, prosecutors at the federal court in the New York borough of Brooklyn said.
As the director of the U.S. branch of the Tamil Tigers, which is based in Queens, New York, Kandasamy oversaw the organization's activities, including its fund-raising, prosecutors said.
The rebels, known officially as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, have been fighting for decades for an independent homeland on the north and east of the teardrop-shaped island in the Indian Ocean.
Since 1983 the fighting has killed some 68,000 people, including more than 4,000 in the past 16 months. The LTTE is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States
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