06-22-2009, 05:34 AM
satp.org
For instance, Sanjoy Hazarikaâs fascinating probe into the turbulent politics of Indiaâs Northeast has made a passing reference to visits by LTTE agents to Assam in the late 1980s, and to their attempts to establish an LTTE-ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom) link. Special mention is made of a brief visit to Assam in 1990, possibly as a gesture of fraternal solidarity, by the LTTE operative Dinesh Kumar.
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a report furnished by Sharma (1997) to the Indian Express refers to meetings between the operatives of the two groups in Tamil Nadu, and of training in guerrilla warfare imparted by the Tigers to the Assamese in the early 1990s. Again, Debashis Mitra in his âNewsletter from Kohimaâ for the New Delhi newspaper The Statesman dealt mainly with what he saw as an "LTTE-NSCN (National Socialist Council of Nagaland) nexus." More specific details have been furnished in the highly acclaimed study of Indiaâs Northeast by B G Verghese, according to which: "... âOperation Rhinoâ undertaken by the Indian government in September 1991 against the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) resulted, among other things, in the discovery of documentary evidence of links between the Kachin Independent Army (KIA) of Burma, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)." Thuingaleng Muivah, one of the twin leaders of the NSCN, according to Verghese, admitted in a press interview the existence of links between the NSCN and other insurgent groups of Burma and South Asia including the LTTE. (Note that the KIA has been named in several writings as one of the main insurgent groups that control the flow of narcotics from the Golden Triangle). Thus, as The Hindu reported in its issue of May 17, 1998, "(e)vidence has now emerged clearly suggesting an unholy narco-terrorism alliance between drug traffickers and the underground insurgent groups of India and Sri Lanka. The LTTE and the Indian insurgent groups, especially those operating in the Northeast states, have close connections with the trafficking of drugs in the region."
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âThe LTTE is directly involved with the Burmese regime in making and distributing heroin,â said the source. The investigation uncovered direct proof of close collaboration between Burma and the Tamil Tigers. LTTE forces are allowed to train at military bases in southern Burma. In return they supply couriers for the worldwide smuggling of heroin.
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A retrospect written in July 2000 by Raman on the general theme of âsupport for terrorist groups in South Asiaâ contains the following information on subject of the Tiger links with Pakistan at this time:
The second (incident in 1993) was the report from the US intelligence officials that the arms and ammunition found on the LTTE ship carrying Kittu (see Text Box 4)... were actually given to the LTTE by Pakistanâs narcotics baron (sic) in return for the LTTEâs help in transporting narcotics consignments to western ports in its ships registered in Greece, and that these arms and ammunitions were loaded into the ship at Karachi under the supervision of the ISI and the Pakistan navy... Mr. Sharif (Pakistanâs then Prime Minister) was shocked when this information was brought to his notice by the US Embassy in Islamabad. The ISI had kept him informed of its terrorist operations in India, but not of its links with the LTTE
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A further report by the same author, focusing more specifically on the subject of the LTTE â Afghanistan/Pakistan connections, asserted:
In the second half of 1994, the LTTE had helped the Harkut-ul-Ansar (since renamed as the Harkut-ul-Mujahideen â HUM), the terrorist organisation of Pakistan run by the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), in smuggling at least two shiploads of arms and ammunition from Karachi for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of the Southern Philippines. In return for the LTTEâs assistance in safely carrying these items to the Southern Philippines, the HUM and the ISI gave to it an undetermined quantity of anti-aircraft guns with ammunition and surface-to-air shoulder-fired missiles... It (the LTTE) was also reported to have received replenishments of this (missile) capability in return for assisting the HUM in shipping to a port in Turkey consignments of arms and ammunition meant for the Islamic terrorists in Chechnya.
For instance, Sanjoy Hazarikaâs fascinating probe into the turbulent politics of Indiaâs Northeast has made a passing reference to visits by LTTE agents to Assam in the late 1980s, and to their attempts to establish an LTTE-ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom) link. Special mention is made of a brief visit to Assam in 1990, possibly as a gesture of fraternal solidarity, by the LTTE operative Dinesh Kumar.
---
a report furnished by Sharma (1997) to the Indian Express refers to meetings between the operatives of the two groups in Tamil Nadu, and of training in guerrilla warfare imparted by the Tigers to the Assamese in the early 1990s. Again, Debashis Mitra in his âNewsletter from Kohimaâ for the New Delhi newspaper The Statesman dealt mainly with what he saw as an "LTTE-NSCN (National Socialist Council of Nagaland) nexus." More specific details have been furnished in the highly acclaimed study of Indiaâs Northeast by B G Verghese, according to which: "... âOperation Rhinoâ undertaken by the Indian government in September 1991 against the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) resulted, among other things, in the discovery of documentary evidence of links between the Kachin Independent Army (KIA) of Burma, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)." Thuingaleng Muivah, one of the twin leaders of the NSCN, according to Verghese, admitted in a press interview the existence of links between the NSCN and other insurgent groups of Burma and South Asia including the LTTE. (Note that the KIA has been named in several writings as one of the main insurgent groups that control the flow of narcotics from the Golden Triangle). Thus, as The Hindu reported in its issue of May 17, 1998, "(e)vidence has now emerged clearly suggesting an unholy narco-terrorism alliance between drug traffickers and the underground insurgent groups of India and Sri Lanka. The LTTE and the Indian insurgent groups, especially those operating in the Northeast states, have close connections with the trafficking of drugs in the region."
--
âThe LTTE is directly involved with the Burmese regime in making and distributing heroin,â said the source. The investigation uncovered direct proof of close collaboration between Burma and the Tamil Tigers. LTTE forces are allowed to train at military bases in southern Burma. In return they supply couriers for the worldwide smuggling of heroin.
---
A retrospect written in July 2000 by Raman on the general theme of âsupport for terrorist groups in South Asiaâ contains the following information on subject of the Tiger links with Pakistan at this time:
The second (incident in 1993) was the report from the US intelligence officials that the arms and ammunition found on the LTTE ship carrying Kittu (see Text Box 4)... were actually given to the LTTE by Pakistanâs narcotics baron (sic) in return for the LTTEâs help in transporting narcotics consignments to western ports in its ships registered in Greece, and that these arms and ammunitions were loaded into the ship at Karachi under the supervision of the ISI and the Pakistan navy... Mr. Sharif (Pakistanâs then Prime Minister) was shocked when this information was brought to his notice by the US Embassy in Islamabad. The ISI had kept him informed of its terrorist operations in India, but not of its links with the LTTE
--
A further report by the same author, focusing more specifically on the subject of the LTTE â Afghanistan/Pakistan connections, asserted:
In the second half of 1994, the LTTE had helped the Harkut-ul-Ansar (since renamed as the Harkut-ul-Mujahideen â HUM), the terrorist organisation of Pakistan run by the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), in smuggling at least two shiploads of arms and ammunition from Karachi for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of the Southern Philippines. In return for the LTTEâs assistance in safely carrying these items to the Southern Philippines, the HUM and the ISI gave to it an undetermined quantity of anti-aircraft guns with ammunition and surface-to-air shoulder-fired missiles... It (the LTTE) was also reported to have received replenishments of this (missile) capability in return for assisting the HUM in shipping to a port in Turkey consignments of arms and ammunition meant for the Islamic terrorists in Chechnya.