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British police launch probe into pro-LTTE rally

LONDON: A rally organised by supporters of the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) here last month and attended by two Asian Labour MPs, Keith Vaz and Virendra Sharma, has become the subject of a police investigation following protests from the Sri Lankan High Commission over the presence of ruling party MPs.

A spokesperson told The Hindu that material from the event was being “assessed” to ascertain whether any criminal offence was involved but declined to confirm a Sunday Telegraph report that Mr. Vaz had been “contacted by the police” as part of the investigation. “We don’t discuss who we speak to in an investigation.”

The material includes speeches and video footage of LTTE chief Prabakaran’s “Heroes’ Day” address urging the “entire Tamil-speaking world to rise up.”

Mr Vaz, who chairs an all-party parliamentary group for Tamils, said at the rally: “I can totally understand the demand of some Tamils for an independent state. These calls will only get louder and louder unless there is just peace.”

Mr. Sharma was more vocal in his support for the LTTE’s aims, reportedly saying he had “long supported the Tamils’ demand for their rights”.

A third Labour MP, Joan Ryan, supported the Sri Lankan Tamils’ “struggle” for an independent homeland. The Sri Lankan High Commission accused the MPs of being “partisan to a proscribed terrorist group.”

Mr. Vaz, whose Leicester East constituency has a large Tamil presence, said he had attended at the request of his constituents.

He condemned all forms of terrorism.

The rally, organised by the Tamil National Remembrance Foundation, to pay homage to LTTE activists killed in clashes with security forces, also reportedly received messages of “support” from London Mayor Ken Livingstone and the Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes.

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