Radio station accused of link to Tamil Tigers Smear campaign alleged: Cabinet to decide this week whether to revoke licence
Stewart Bell National Post Tuesday, July 15, 2003 TORONTO - The federal Cabinet is to decide this week whether to cancel a radio licence granted by the CRTC to a Toronto company with alleged links to a South Asian terrorist organization. The new station, to be launched this fall in Toronto at 101.3 FM, denies any ties to extremists and insists it is the target of a smear campaign by opponents of its plan to broadcast to the city's ethnic communities. But government officials are concerned by allegations the broadcaster is affiliated with the World Tamil Movement (WTM), a fundraising front for the Tamil Tigers, a Sri Lankan terrorist group. The RCMP is aware of the allegations and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service has been advising the government on the matter. Cabinet is to decide by tomorrow whether to overturn the CRTC decision. The allegations come as the Cabinet is taking criticism for failing to outlaw the Tamil Tigers under Canada's Anti-Terrorist Act. Stockwell Day, the Canadian Alliance's foreign affairs critic, has launched a campaign to ban the group. Allegations of terrorist ties were brought to the attention of the CRTC last summer by Sri Lankan Canadians, who wrote letters opposing a radio licence application by Canadian Multicultural Radio. The letters claimed the numbered company behind the radio bid was tied to the WTM. The letters also claim WTM volunteers had gone door to door in Tamil neighbourhoods in Toronto to intimidate Sri Lankans into supporting the radio licence bid. The CRTC approved the licence anyway on April 17. Denis Carmel, a CRTC spokesman, said of the "thousands and thousands" of responses to the proposed station, only a few raised concerns about terrorism and the station responded to all the allegations in full. "We felt there was a competitive process and people were being a little too passionate," he said. "The language of these letters was vague and there was a lot of interventions, most of them favourable." The Privy Council Office has since received 47 petitions seeking an appeal of the decision. They have been referred to the Department of Canadian Heritage, which has made a recommendation to Cabinet. It must announce its decision by July 16. Several of the petitions allege a link to the Tamil Tigers, also known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE. Though the organization has not been banned, the federal government has frozen since the fall of 2001 on suspicion of terrorist links. "It is well known in the Sri Lankan community that the people who are behind the licence ... are the fronts for the LTTE's major organizers in Canada," said one petition. The station denies the claims. S. Sivakumaran, the radio station's chief operating officer, said some of those who complained were supporters of competing bids. The company has tried to track them down to serve them with defamation suits, but has not been able to find them, he said. "I don't even know if some of these people exist." He said the station has responded to each of the allegations in detail and will make its written response available after the Cabinet decision is announced. "It's a smear campaign," he said. "I could sense that, from having looked at these appeals, it's a joint effort by some of the members of our community who did not get the licence and some of these same people wrote support for the other applicants during the application process." The allegations do not concern members of the radio station team but rather their relatives and friends, he said. "They are trying to say that he's got a friend of so-and-so, he's got a relative. We're in no position to comment about a third party. It's ridiculous.... "Post-Sept. 11, everyone's worried about terrorist link and terrorist things and whoever is doing the strategy for these guys has told them to write stuff like this because it gets everyone anxious and everyone's attention. "If [members of the station's board] have any links, I'd be sure that the Privy Council would get the RCMP and CSIS to give them a report." He said neither agency had contacted the company concerning any investigation. The Tamil Tigers have frequently used terrorist tactics such as suicide bombings and political assassinations during a two-decade insurgency that sought independence for the island's ethnic Tamil minority. The violence was financed largely by expatriate Tamil communities, particularly in Canada. CSIS has estimated the Tigers raised millions in Canada through front organizations and crime. The Tigers agreed to a ceasefire last year and entered peace talks with the government. But they walked away from the negotiations in April and there have been reports the LTTE is preparing for renewed war. "I can tell you for sure that concerns with respect to security that have been expressed, the RCMP is aware of them," said Fran�ois Jubinville, of the Privy Council Office. The RCMP confirmed it was aware of the allegations but would not comment further. "It's not our practice to identify who or what might be the subject of a criminal investigation," Corporal Benoit Desjardins said. "We are aware of it, but in regard to is there an investigation, I cannot comment on whether there is one or not." [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?id=330749D2-F735-4CF7-B2E7-B2422 654F6EA ---[Start Commercial]--------------------- World Radio TV Handbook 2003 is out! 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