Tamil Tiger Fighter

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has arrested a Tamil for allegedly raising funds for the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The LTTE is banned as a terrorist organization in Canada under the post-9/11 anti-terrorism laws. Under these laws, anyone who gives funds to a banned terror outfit can be jailed for 10 years and who raises funds faces up to 14 years behind bars. Prapaharan Thambithurai, 45, a Toronto resident who may have been in Vancouver for as long as a decade, has been arrested for targeting Sri Lankan Tamils of the Lower Mainland for donations to the Tamil Tigers.

Thambithurai was remanded in custody after his arrest and was expected to appear in  Vancouver Provincial Court Tuesday to face charges of providing or making available property or services for terrorist purposes.

The charges mark the first time in Canadian history that anyone has been charged with terrorist financing for allegedly raising money for the Tamil Tigers. LTTE supporters were openly active in Canada till the new Conservative government in 2006 banned the outfit. With over 250,000 Sri Lankan Tamils living in this country, Canada has their largest concentration outside Sri Lanka. An estimated 8,000 Tamils call Metro Vancouver home. About 200,000 live in the Toronto area where they wield a significant political clout in a few provincial and federal ridings. The remainder are scattered across the country. It has been reported that thousands of former LTTE guerrillas have also made Canada their home.
Before the ban, the LTTE was accused of raising money from Canadian Tamils through extortion and threats to fund its guerrilla warfare in Sri Lanka.

The police investigation continues, but investigators wouldn't say whether more suspects are being targeted locally or elsewhere in Canada.

-IANS