posted July 05, 2000 11:22 PM
Apologies for posting the whole article but the website doesnt allow linking to individual articles. For those interested see http://webhome.idirect.com/~sluna/index1.htm Ministers Under fire as Canadians Focus on LTTE Activity and Infiltration
....the key pro-LTTE front figure in Canada continues to manoeuvre in the shadows. He is Prof. Elagu V. Elaguppillai....
The participation of two Canadian federal government ministers Mr. Paul Martin, the Finance Minister, and Ms. Maria Minna, the Minister of Interntional Co-operation in a LTTE fund raising dinner on the 6th of May has focused Canada’s attention at the level of LTTE activity and infiltration in Canada and brought massive pressure on the two Canadian ministers, with some calling for their resignation.
This event has acted as a catalyst to focus the attention of Canada at the level of LTTE infiltration and activity in Canada.
The "National Post" launched its attack on the federal ministers in a hard hitting editorial titled "Dancing with Tigers" on the 12th of May, accusing the ministers of ignorance and scrambling for the ethnic vote at the cost of undermining the global fight against terrorism.
On the 18th of May it highlighted that 155,000 Sri Lankan Tamils live in Toronto and that there had been over 40 Tamil gang shootings in the Toronto area in the last two years. An opposition political party, the Canadian Alliance Party, had obtained a copy of a report by the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Criminal Intelligence Directorate under the Access to Information Act, According to this report most of the crime involves Tamil street gangs, whose members are believed to have had military training. There has also been an escalation to more sophisticated crime such as casino and bank fraud. It went on to state that Tamil criminal groups are involved in extortion, home invasion, thefts, sales of contraband cigarettes, the importation and trafficking of brown heroin, trafficking of other drugs, arms trafficking, fraud, production and sale of counterfeit passports, illegal migrant smuggling and attempted murders, bank and casino frauds and money laundering.
On the 27th of May it informed the Canadian public that LTTE front groups were planning victory parties in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa to celebrate LTTE military gains in Sri Lanka.
The first event was scheduled for this Sunday (4th June) at the Bronson Centre, in Ottawa and is advertised as "a celebration to mark the unstoppable Unceasing Waves".
The second event was scheduled for 10th June in Toronto at the Molson Amphitheatre, and was organised by the World Tamil Movement, identified by the U.S. State Department as a front for the Tamil Tigers.
When we contacted both venues this Friday (2nd June) the Bronson Centre had decided to cancel the event because of the publicity about terrorist connections and the Molson Amphitheatre was having second thoughts about allowing the event to take place at their venue.
On 30th May the "National post" caused outraged by highlighting the use of Canadian public schools by LTTE fronts for fund raising. It carried a front page photo of a LTTE fund-raising event at a Toronto public school at which men in camouflage uniforms carrying mock assault rifles were standing in front of a huge Eelam map cut out. Liberal party MP’s had also participated at this fund raising event.
The following day the Finance Minister Paul Martin of the Liberal Party had a tough time in parliament, with Ted White, a Canadian Alliance MP accusing him of poor judgement over the ministers participation at the terrorist fund raising dinner. Martin defended himself by stating that his critics were being anti-Canadian.
On 31th May in a second hard hitting editorial, the "National Post" highlighted that the LTTE had raised an estimated C$ 22 million last year and warned Paul Martin, quoting Canada’s Federal Court "people who raise funds for terrorists bear the same guilt and responsibility as those who carry out terrorist acts".
The 1st of June had Martin under siege with a headline "Martin faces further grilling over Tamil dinner". It was the third successive day of questioning at the national parliament with MP’s demanding explanations.
The 2nd of June had Canada’s most senior intelligence officer on the front page. Ward Elcock, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said terrorist organisations such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are exploiting Canada’s wealth to finance bloodshed around the world. "If you tolerate these activities, you can run into problems", he said. The intelligence director was concerned that terrorist groups prey on immigrant communities and resort to organised crime to get money, and he fears the failure to curb them may anger foreign governments and prompt them to take matters into their own hands.
With elections in Canada due around fall, all this terrorist publicity is having its effect. Paul Martin Liberal Party has taken a 7% dive in the last 2 months to 49% and the opposition Canadian Alliance has doubled its support to 19%.
Away from all this publicity, the key pro-LTTE front figure in Canada continues to manoeuvre in the shadows. He is Prof. Elagu V. Elaguppillai, who is attached to both the University of Ottawa and Carlton University in Ottawa, the venue of the "international conference" held on May 21st and 22nd 1999. Prof. Elagupillai was the main organiser of that conference, the "power" and the "influence" which got eminent Canadians to attend under a "peace" facade. But at the end of the two day "conference" this cover was blown, when the resolutions passed did not have the word "peace" in it, but spoke of taking up arms. Dr. Elagupillai had organised a reception for the "international conference" on the 20th of May 1999 at the Ottawa parliament, demonstrating his influence even at that time.
Prof. Elagu V. Elaguppillai is a member of both FACT and WTM, front organisations of the LTTE in Canada and categorised as such by the US State Department. He is also a Liberal party member and it is via Prof. Elagu V. Elaguppillai that FACT managed to invite Paul Martin and other Liberal Party figures for their fund raising dinner.
Elaguppillai sat with Paul Martin at the main table and he can been seen with Martin, on the photograph which was published by "The Island" on Friday 26th of May. He is the bridge, between the LTTE and the Liberal party and has recently re-located to Toronto, according to some, with Liberal Party electoral aspirations in mind.
The official web site of the University of Ottawa has the bio data of its academics and in it (http://www.uottawa.ca/-irceuo/bio/elagup.htm) Dr. Elagu V. Elaguppillai describes himself as having been born in Tamil Eelam, Sri Lanka where he obtained his undergraduate degree in Physics with a First Class Honours from the University of Ceylon. He subsequently obtained his M.Sc. and Ph.D degrees, in 1968 and 1970 respectively, from the Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Ontario. His graduate research thesis was in the application of radioactive tracer techniques in medical diagnosis and therapy of skeletal disorders.
It goes on to state that he served in a number of IAEA panels on nuclear science teaching in medicine and agriculture. He joined the Atomic Energy Control Board of Canada in 1975 as a Senior Scientific Advisor in Radiation Protection in uranium mines and mills, nuclear reactors and in radiactive waste management.
Elaguppillai has a history of involvement with the LTTE, first via the TRO (Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation) a LTTE controlled charity in Canada, Australia, South Africa, Britain and Sri Lanka, which raises funds which are channelled to the LTTE.
His involvement with the Sri Lankan terrorist group resulted in Elaguppillai failing security clearance for the Canadian Atomic Commission as the Canadian law enforcement authorities regard him as a security threat and will not approve of his involvement in high risk programmes.
Despite this, Dr. Elagu V. Elaguppillai remains a high profile figure, highly respected among the Tamil Canadian community as a "Tamil success role model" and an influential figure who frequently boasts that he has thousands of Tamil votes in his pocket.
On the evening of 21st May 1999, I sat with Dr. Elagu V. Elaguppillai and Dr. Meenan Vishnu (a senior Hardware Design Engineer working for a US based IT company FORE Systems) at the pub (behind the Minto Centre) in the Carlton University in Ottawa and listened to Dr. Elaguppillai boast to a junior Canadian politician "I have a block vote, you know, and I can remove any politician. I only need a 1000 votes to do that".
This "perceived" block vote, demonstration of large Tamil gatherings such as the dinner which Paul Martin attended and other such events, and academic positions in two Canadian universities gives Dr. Elaguppillai access to the highest levels of politics and makes him and his "group" attractive to the Liberal Party, preparing to fight an election in the fall. His relocation to Toronto, an area with over 155,000 Tamils may be political positioning to gain entry into the Canadian Parliament by contesting the elections in the fall on a Liberal Party ticket. Some Tamils in Canada who know Dr. Elaguppillai have told me that he has a big ego problem. According to them, the LTTE is using Elaguppillai’s influence to further their terrorist cause and Elaguppillai is using the LTTE to further his ego.
In many ways, Dr. Elaguppillai is a mirror image of Professor Christie Jeyam Eliezer, who has acted as the unofficial Tamil Eelam High Commissioner in Australia. Eliezer’s high point was organising an "international conference" in Australia in 1996, in which a message, which had been obtained by deception from Nelson Mandela was read out. The deception was a facade which projected the "international conference" as a "peace conference" when the actual motive was to drum up support for the LTTE. Several South African and Australian MP’s attended that LTTE conference. Eliezer was honoured by Australia which awarded him "Member of Order of Australia" award in 1996 and in 1997 Prabhakaran awarded him the "Maamanithar" Award for services to Thamil Eelam.
If all goes according to plan, Prabakaran should award Dr. Elagu V. Elaguppillai, the "Maamanithar" award for services to Thamil Eelam. After all, in his official bio data, Dr. Elaguppillai claims to have been born in Thamil Eelam. But first there are mountains for Elaguppillai to climb. The Liberal Party and parliament in Ottawa beckons.
The Elaguppillai factor looms large in Paul Martin’s participation at the LTTE event and now his on-going defence in parliament of his actions. It also highlights the level of LTTE infiltration in the Canadian political and nuclear fields.
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posted July 05, 2000 11:22 PM
