SL makes request to EU

1 August 2011 10:37 am

The Government of Sri Lanka today updated its request to the European Union (EU) to list front organizations of the LTTE as terrorist entities, as they had done the LTTE since 2006, the Sri Lankan Embassy in Brussels said.

“This call was made, as the EU through Council Implementing Regulation of 18 July 2011, re-listed the LTTE as a terrorist entity.  The EU terrorist re-listings made in terms of article 2 (3) of Council Regulation of 07 December 2001 on specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities with a view to combating terrorism, proscribes organizations listed operating in EU member countries and freezes their assets,” the statement said.

In the recent update to its application for listing of LTTE front organizations handed over through the Sri Lanka Embassy in Brussels, the government detailed action taken against the LTTE and its front organizations, by member states of the EU. The EU states included in this application were Belgium, Denmark, France, The Netherlands, Germany, UK, as well as other states namely, Canada, India, Norway, Switzerland and USA.

The application also highlighted action taken by the Government of Sri Lanka in response to specific requests for intelligence and judicial assistance received in connection with these investigations from the relevant authorities of The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland and Norway.

Similarly on 6 July 2011, the LTTE was re-listed among the UK’s “proscribed terror groups or organizations” based on the findings following a review carried out through the UK Strategy for Countering Terrorism (CONTEST).