Sri Lanka opposition asks goverment to act on US report on LTTE

Asserting that there is a "threat" to national security, Sri Lanka's opposition on Monday asked the government to act urgently over a US report which said that the LTTE's international network and funding was intact.

"The Government should act on this urgently. There is a threat to national security," said G L Peiris, former foreign minister and United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP. He said the government should have convened a special cabinet meeting over the report.

The US State a Department report released last week had said Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's (LTTE) international network and funding was intact. It said that the defeated group was very much alive internationally.

The report noted that there have been no known attacks in Sri Lanka that could verifiably be attributed to the LTTE since the end of the war, but a total of 13 LTTE supporters, several of which had allegedly planned attacks against the US and Israeli diplomatic facilities in India were arrested in Malaysia in 2014.

Peiris alleged that recent Sri Lankan government action such as having talks with Tamil diaspora groups would encourage those who want to see the revival of the LTTE. Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera had engaged diaspora groups in London for talks aimed at addressing the immediate needs of the war-affected Tamils. Government had said it was keen to engage all Sri Lankan groups overseas to rebuild the country.