Tamil Tigers still active in Europe

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When Tamil Tigers were routed on the battlefield two years ago, the Sri Lankan government believed it had crushed the 25-year rebellion for a separate Tamil homeland.

But evidence surfacing in a courthouse in the Netherlands shows that the cause of Tamil independence is still alive in Europe, and an assessment from counter-terrorism authorities says supporters of the defeated rebels remain engaged in extortion, human trafficking and other crimes to raise money for their brethren in Sri Lanka.

With the entire Tamil military leadership dead and the Sri Lankan army in control of former rebel territory, independent experts doubt a revival of an armed uprising is possible soon.

But while the Tigers have been defeated in Sri Lanka, "here in Europe they are very much alive," Dutch prosecutor Ward Ferdinandusse told The Hague District Court during the trial of five Tamils accused of being members of the outlawed organisation, running illegal lotteries and laundering money.

A USB stick found in a tea cup at the home of one of the defendants revealed him to be the international bookkeeper for the worldwide Tamil diaspora, prosecutors allege.

The data disclosed a financial plan for 2010, and indicate that Tamil exiles remain faithful to the goal of independence in northern Sri Lanka for the country's Tamil minority, the prosecution claims.

That analysis is echoed by the latest assessments published by Europol, the EU's police coordination organisation.

In its 2011 'Terrorism Situation and Trend Report,' Europol says Tamil Tigers still extort money from Tamils and are "actively involved in drugs and human trafficking, the facilitation of illegal immigration, credit card skimming, money laundering, and fraud for the purpose of funding terrorist (support) operations."

The twin assessments by Dutch authorities and Europol raise worrying questions about the possible regrouping of the Tigers, formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE. The LTTE is still listed as a terror organisation by the European Union, United States and other countries.

Terrorism expert Prof. Rohan Gunaratna of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University said the Dutch investigation "demonstrates beyond doubt that the LTTE intention was, even after the defeat of the leadership, to revive the fight. Funds were still being raised in the heart of Europe to sustain their campaign of terror."

The International Crisis Group, a respected think tank, said in a report last year that even after the May 2009 defeat, "most Tamils abroad remain profoundly committed to Tamil Eelam, the existence of a separate state" in Sri Lanka.

"At this point it would be extremely hard to generate any significant militancy in Sri Lanka," Alan Keenan, Crisis Group's expert on Sri Lanka, said in an interview.