Sri Lanka Foreign Minister says California court decision helps terrorists

“Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama, told the U.S. Attorney General, Alberto R. Gonzales, that the capability of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the United States to raise funds in the guise of collecting for bogus charities is hampering Sri Lanka’s peace process. Raising the point about a recent California U.S. District court verdict, the minister said it is helping the terrorist group through its front organizations to collect money purportedly for charitable purposes. But the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister said the money finally ends up in terrorist coffers to procure weapons… The Minister was referring to a U.S. District Court verdict in California, of Judge Audrey B. Collins, that declared terrorist groups like the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam could raise funds ‘for lawful non-violent activities.’ Department of Justice sources said there is a similar concern about the verdict on their part and the verdict will be appealed against by the Department of Justice at an appropriate time. Writing a strongly worded editorial, the Washington Times newspaper, in December 2006 said, ‘It would be terribly wrong-headed to think that charity for terrorists is permissible if the purported intention is humanitarian.’