Hunt for Rudrakumaran : will US co-operate ?....UPUL JOSEPH FERNANDO
The Sri Lankan Government . has been asking America to extradite Rudrakumaran even before the arrest of KP .After the SL Govt. became aware that Rudrakumaran along with the Tamil Diaspora representatives met Blake , the SL Govt. lodged its protests against it. The American Government. took the position that if charges against Rudrakumaran that he helped terrorists can be substantiated , it will take measures to institute legal action. From that point of time , the Sri Lankan Govt.’s challenge was to search for leads to prove that he had in fact assisted in terrorist activities. According to some sources , it is after KP was arrested and the Govt. interrogated him that it was able to collect evidence that Rudrakumaran supported terrorist activities. The Defense Secretary and Attorney General travelled to Washington to explain and elucidate the situation based on this information to the American Government. Even at present , there are Tamil Tiger members in America who are American citizens, under arrest after having been proved that they have supported terrorist activities in SL. They have even been produced before the American courts .The SL govt.’s aim is to have Rudrakumaran arrested in America and brought down to SL. The Govt. is of the view that he can be arrested in the same way as was KP in Malaysia. Rudrakumar is an American citizen. Therefore, it is not easy to arrest Rudrakumar in the same way as KP was arrested . If the SL Govt. files indictment against Rudrakumaran for supporting terrorist activities , there is nothing to preclude America from telling the SL Govt. that it shall prosecute him under its laws.
During the period when the UN General assembly was on , Sri Lanka’s Defense Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Attorney General Mohan Peiris spent a number of days in Washington , to explore ways and means to apprehend Viswanathan Rudrakumaran ,the legal advisor of the Tamil Tiger Organization and a prospective Committee member of the Transnational Govt. to be formed by the Tamil Tiger Organization.
The Defense Secretary and the Attorney General met Robert Blake of the US State Department and former American Ambassador in charge of SL and South Asia , in order to discuss this situation, sources say. Some others even say ,that Blake paid a visit to the hotel they were staying to meet them on a personal level and not in an official capacity .
The Sri Lankan government has been asking America to extradite Rudrakumaran even before the arrest of KP .After the SL government became aware that Rudrakumaran along with the Tamil diaspora representatives met Blake , the SL government lodged its protests against it. The American government took the position that if charges against Rudrakumaran that he helped terrorists can be substantiated , it will take measures to institute legal action against him.
From that point of time , the SL government’s challenge was to search for leads to prove that he had assisted in terrorist activities. According to some sources , it is after KP was arrested and the government interrogated him that it was able to collect evidence that Rudrakumaran supported terrorist activities. The Defense Secretary and Attorney General travelled to Washington to explain and elucidate the situation based on this information to the American government . Even at present , there are Tamil Tiger members in America who are American citizens, under arrest after having been proved that they have supported terrorist activities in SL. They have even been produced before the American Courts .
The SL government’s aim is to have Rudrakumaran arrested in America and brought down to Sri Lanka. The government is of the view that he can be arrested in the same way as was KP in Malaysia but since Rudrakumar is an American citizen it is not easy to arrest him in the same manner as KP was arrested. If the SL government . files indictment against Rudrakumaran for supporting terrorist activities , there is nothing to preclude America from telling the Sri Lankan government . that it will prosecute him under its laws.
It is SL government’s view that after KP , it is Rudrakumaran who has taken over the Tamil Tiger leadership. The SL government is aware that KP had a history which is associated with the Tamil Tiger Organization. But, Rudrakumaran’s history is connected with SL’s politics in the North. Viswanathan , the father of Rudrakumaran was a former Mayor of Jaffna. At the time when the Jaffna library was set on fire in 1982 , it was Rudrakumaran’s father who was the mayor of Jaffna. Rudrakumaran’s father was held in high respect by Prabhakaran , the Tamil Tiger leader. Prabhakaran extended this respect to Rudrakumaran too. It is on this account that Prabhakaran named Rudrakumaran as a representative in the team which took part in the ceasefire discussions in 2002. During that period he was closer to Prabhakaran than Balasingham.. It was Rudrakumaran who worked for the formulation of the interim self governing authority (ISGA) following the conclusion of the CFA. Some even go so far as to say it was Rudrakumaran who was the architect of it. Taking the ISGA to the world was also done by Rudrakumaran.
After the present SL government was installed in power , and peace negotiations commenced, Balasingham fell ill, at that juncture, Prabhakaran entrusted the responsibility of peace negotiations on behalf of the Tamil Tiger Organization to Rudrakumaran.
Rudrakumaran who is a lawyer works within the LTTE Organization as a professional. Like the ISGA , the latest Tamil Tiger Organization program , the Transnational government proposal is a technical professional matter.
There are divergent views expressed among the pro Tamil Tiger diaspora regarding the emerging Transnational government proposal which is a technical matter. Among the Tamil Tigers, the hard core group is not in favour of Rudrakumaran. This group had censured Rudrakumaran’s Transnational government proposal in their Tamilnet web. This is a move to please countries like India and America which supported the war , they point out . It is the objective of India and America to drive the Tamil Tigers to the political stream, and some people have got caught in this web. K.P. was one of them, the website further adds.
K.P. who tried to bring the Tamil Tigers to the democratic political process dancing to the tune of America and India is now in custody, the Tamilnet web further highlighted. It is the perception of the hard core group that Rudrakumaran can similarly be trapped.
America and the international . community have a great desire to draw the Tamil Tigers into the democratic process. They could use Rudrakumaran to achieve this end. It is not impossible that K.P. was lured to the democratic process by Rudrakumaran , America and the international community owing to their pressures. Hence, no matter what indictments the Sri Lankan government may bring against Rudrakumaran, America will think twice before they pursue any course of action , the pro Rudrakumaran Tamil Tiger group assumes. It is also their belief that America must be entertaining the notion that if Rudrakumaran too is arrested like K.P. and if terrorism rears its head again from what remains of the Tamil Tiger organization after Prabhakaran’s assassination , those seeking to influence the Tamil Tigers to join the democratic stream could get sidelined .
If this conviction is true , the Sri Lankan government should strive to destroy this American notion. It is impossible to do so by attacking and colliding with America to dispel this notion , neither can Rudrakumaran be taken into custody. The Southern elections results also underline the fact that the government by turning hostile against America and the international . community could not swell its vote bank . Therefore . the only way out for the government is to stand united with America and resolve this issue.
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Comments
If this Transnational Government does not violate any international law, and if it is considered as democratic way of campaign for Tamils' rights in Sri Lanka, it is OK. By allowing this Transnational Government to function, the world can prevent future armed struggle.
Posted By: raj
Yes, they can talk big to the foolish majority but need to bow down to the big brother.
Posted By: Bash
I simply cannot understand this. If LTTE worked on Transnational Government from the inception well then yes, Int'l community can consider that they are committed to a peaceful process. but they fight, violated all international laws , killed innocent civilians including of their own people and finally got wacked left right and center from the Govt of Sri Lanka. Then they are taking about TG mode. That means even Al-Quida too can work on a backup plan like this..?
Posted By: Sanje
dailymirror.lk
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