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Two plead guilty in US to supporting Tamil Tigers
NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Two men accused of belonging to a U.S. branch of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiring to funnel resources to the rebel group, a court spokesman said. John Smith Sathajhan Sarachandran, 29, and Bill Jones Nadarasa Yogarasa, 54, pleaded guilty on the eve of their trial at U.S. District Court in Brooklyn to conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization, spokesman Robert Nardoza said. Sarachandran also pleaded guilty to attempting to purchase guided anti-aircraft missiles.

The trial of two co-defendants, Sam Brown Sahilal Sabaratnam, 29, and Tyrone Thompson Thiruthanikan Thanigasalam, 40, is expected to go forward on Wednesday. Several other individuals -- including Karunakaran Kandasamy, the suspected head of the U.S. branch of the rebel group, who stands accused of overseeing the organization's activities and fund-raising -- have been charged separately and are expected to go on trial later this year.

Prosecutors said the Tamil Tigers rely on sympathetic expatriates to raise money, get weapons and spread propaganda. To coordinate these activities, the Tigers have established "branches" in at least 12 countries, including an office in the New York borough of Queens, prosecutors said in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.
Posted by: Steve White 2009-01-27
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=260877