http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/03/ltte_alqaeda_an_assessment.php
LTTE & al-Qaeda: An Assessment By Aaron Mannes Sri Lanka's Daily News <http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/03/20/sec01.asp> reports that the LTTE has stolen Norwegian passports and sold them to al-Qaeda affiliates. This is very plausible. According to Rohan Gunaratna, the LTTE provided forged passports for Ramzi Yousef and also, while allied with the Pakistani government in the late 1980s and early 1990s (the LTTE was fighting an Indian peace-keeping force in Sri Lanka) smuggled weapons from Pakistan-based Islamists to their counterparts in the Philippines. Naturally, allies of the Sri Lankan government are playing up this possible link. However, this should not be construed as a grand strategic alliance. The LTTE has an international network of support among the Tamil diaspora and, because of Sri Lanka's strategic location astride shipping lanes, its own fleet of sea-going vessels. So it is well positioned to play a role in trans-national criminal activity. The passport sales only highlights how terrorism is the tip of the iceberg of trans-national threats. In the past I've <http://www.profilesinterror.com/updates/2006_08_06_archive.html> written that the U.S. should expand its efforts against the LTTE because it was morally consistent with targeting terrorists, it would contribute to stability on the Indian-subcontinent, and because the LTTE was embedded in international criminal networks that also service Islamist terrorists. It would appear, based on some <http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/10/ltte_arms_purchasing_ring_bust.php> high-profile arrests of LTTE operatives attempting to purchase weapons in the U.S. that this has happened. Cross-posted <http://www.profilesinterror.com/updates/> here. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
