International   

LTTE men held in Italy for extortion

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Wednesday confirmed that Italian authorities have arrested 30 suspected members of the LTTE on charges of “extortion, intimidation and harassment”.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said here the suspects were picked up by the Anti-Terrorism Unit of the Italian police from seven regions.

It said the swoop followed complaints by Tamil community in Palermo of extortion, intimidation and harassment. It said since the arrests were on the basis of confirmed evidence, the suspects would be tried under laws pertaining to finance of organisations which intend to carry out violent activities.

The operation comes close on the heels of the Canadian government’s decision on Monday to list the World Tamil Movement (WTM) as a terrorist organisation, under the Criminal Code of Canada.

Colombo said “intensification of anti-LTTE operations” by the international community recently was a “positive gesture supporting” government’s efforts towards eradicating terrorism.

Separately, the military said at least 23 LTTE cadres and four soldiers were killed in continued fight in the north in the last 24 hours.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Cleric’s release, a blow to Britain
Political fog over Pakistan persists
Deal is only for Gaza: Israel
LTTE men held in Italy for extortion
Consensus on East China Sea
Sarkozy to streamline military to tackle terror threat

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu