Lanka to open Mission in Eritrea to counter LTTE network

Sri Lanka is looking at the possibility of opening an embassy in Eritrea as part of measures to counter the LTTE’s international network which is said to be still active despite the arrest of the chief arms procurer of the Tigers Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP, Foreign Ministry sources told Daily Mirror online.

The move comes after Kumaran Pathmanathan had revealed more details of the LTTE’s international network which is also active in several other countries, sources added.

Eritrea had emerged as a major transshipment point and sanctuary for key players in the informal arms trade and the LTTE had established a presence in Eritrea primarily to operate in the informal arms market.

It was reported earlier that the LTTE maintains regular interactions with many armed groups including groups affiliated to the Al Qaeda operating in the Eritrean Network. The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee report dated 15 December 2006, explicitly stated that the Government of Eritrea provides direct support to the LTTE.

It was also reported earlier that the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabakaran had sent a personally signed fax to President Isaias Afewerki of Eritrea on 24 May 2006, communicating directly with a Head of State. President Afewerki, prior to the secession of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993 led the Eritrea People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) a rebel movement for the independence of Eritrea.

(DM Online)