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| Sri Lanka |
| EU to blacklist Tamil Tigers despite warning of war |
| 2006-05-19 |
| BRUSSELS - The European Union has agreed in principle to put Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger group on its list of terrorist groups, diplomats said on Friday, despite a warning by the rebels that the move could lead to war. A formal decision on the blacklisting “could come extremely quickly”, perhaps as early next week, one EU diplomat said. Another said that it would come “before June.” A number of diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the “extremely sensitive” nature of the subject, told AFP that the agreement had been reached by EU officials late on Thursday. It comes just two days after a US State Department official, on a visit to Sri Lanka, said that Washington had urged the 25-nation bloc to ban the Tigers, declare them a “terrorist” group and cut off their international funding. By putting a group on the list, the EU automatically freezes its assets and puts in place special cooperation measures to combat it. The separatist ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka has claimed more than 60,000 lives since 1972. More than 200 people died last month despite a four-year truce between government forces and the rebels, brokered by Norway. In Colombo, a top rebel negotiator said that any EU ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) would only lead to war. “Emboldened by international support, and especially by further proscriptions of the LTTE, the Sinhala hardline elements will undoubtedly take steps to further escalate the violence and precipitate a war in which they hope to destroy the LTTE,” Anton Balasingham said in a statement. “If this happens, the LTTE will be compelled to resist,” Balasingham, who has led Tamil Tiger delegations in negotiations with various Sri Lankan governments, was quoted as saying by the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website. Norway has often hosted peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and the rebels, and EU states Sweden, Finland and Denmark were said to have resisted the blacklist move out of solidarity with their Nordic neighbour. The Tamil Tigers already figure on Britain’s and Germany’s terror blacklists, as well as those of the United States, Canada and India. Britain banned the Tigers in February 2001 while the EU in October slapped travel restrictions on them after holding the LTTE responsible for the August 2005 assassination of Sri Lankan foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. The EU warned at the time that the Tigers could face a complete ban, which would affect fund-raising among the many Tamils living in Europe, unless they renounce violence. In Colombo on Tuesday, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Camp said: “We have encouraged the EU to list the LTTE.” “We think the LTTE is very deserving of that label. We think it will help cut off financial supplies and weapons procurement and the like,” he said. The EU blacklist was drawn up late in 2001, following the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington and is revised regularly. The Palestinian group Hamas and the former Basque separatist party Batasuna are on it. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 And the listing will last almost as long as EU's committment to withhold $$ from the Paleos... All rev, no torque. |
| Posted by: USN, ret. 2006-05-19 14:46 |