SRI LANKA UNITED NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CANADA

Box 55292, 300 Borough Drive, Toronto, Ontario M1P 4Z7 Canada

Website:   www.sluna.org                        E-mail:   sluna@idirect.com

 

MEDIA RELEASE                                                                  March 15, 2007

 

 

Norwegians Against Terrorism (NAT) Spokesman Exposes Norwegian Peace

Facilitator’s Bias Towards the Tamil Tiger Terrorists and Unethical Conduct

 

Leading spokesperson of the group known as the Norwegians Against Terrorism (NAT), Mr. Falk Rovik, former Board Member of the Oslo Amnesty International Chapter, was the main guest speaker at the association’s Special General Meeting held on Saturday, March 10, 2007, at the North York Civic Centre Auditorium in Toronto.  His presentation was well received by the large gathering of over 300 participants including representatives from Amnesty, Mackenzie Institute, RCMP, CSIS, Toronto Police, several GTA Riding Association officials, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner, Deputy High Commissioner, Consul General and other Sri Lankan community leaders.

 

The highlights of Mr. Falk Rovik’s presentation included several aspects of unethical conduct covering the overt and covert support extended to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which has been internationally designated as a terrorist organization, by both the Government of Norway and the Norway led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), contributing to the loss of confidence in Norway’s ability to function as a peace facilitator.  Some of the points made by him are listed below:

 

  1. The involuntary transfer of Norwegian Tax Payer’s money to the LTTE front organizations in Norway, which end up funding LTTE terrorism in Sri Lanka.

 

  1. Almost 90 percent of LTTE revenues are raised from criminal activities outside Sri Lanka, including the smuggling of narcotics and humans, extortion of Diaspora members, credit card fraud, etc.

 

  1. The LTTE devotes considerable effort to find weak and corrupt persons in the Norwegian bureaucracy, politicians, military and ex-military and police services.  Police Officer, Herman Olav Nyhusmoen with gambling debts was recruited by LTTE cadre Mike Daniel Jeya in illegally obtaining Norwegian Passports, which was detected following the arrest of a LTTE cadre by Thai Police in possession of 700 passports as revealed in the court case where officer Nyhusmoen and Mike Jeya were sentenced to serve prison terms.  According to Interpol, more than 130,000 Norwegian Passports are reported missing.  The LTTE has already used some of the stolen passports and sold others to the highest bidders including Al Qaeda groups in Algeria, which seriously compromises Norwegian Security.

 

  1. Norwegian gift of six tons of high powered dual use communications equipment to the LTTE in 2002 has helped the Tamil Tiger Terrorists in their propaganda work, relaying messages globally, tracking Tamil dissidents opposed to the LTTE by listening in on telephone conversations and using assassins to kill them at the traced locations.  Indian intelligence had said that the equipment was being used to monitor phone conversations of key Sri Lankan Government officials and military personnel, endangering the law and order situation in Sri Lanka.  Norwegian involvement in the deal was clear from the taped phone conversations of Ambassador Jon Westborg and LTTE leader Puleedevan, even though the Foreign Ministry official Mr. Naustal attempted to show that the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo was only the fictitious recipient of the consignment as named in the shipping document.

 

  1. Funding of the LTTE by Norway via their front organizations and the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) which is supposedly engaged in humanitarian relief work but directly controlled by the LTTE and used as a funnel to divert funds for arms procurement, running into millions of dollars, have since been extracted from lists published by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, vide www.svik.org/nat1.pdf .  On such disclosure being brought to the attention of the public by NAT, the Ministry has attempted to cover up by grouping payments to hide the real position.  It is also believed that secret accounts are also used in funding the LTTE just as in the case of funding the PLO when Norway played a mediatory role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where such funds ended up in private accounts in Swiss banks.  With the level of violations of the Ceasefire Agreement on the part of the LTTE rising based on SLMM reports, the Norwegian funding of the LTTE front organizations too have risen astronomically as though the LTTE was being rewarded by Norway for increased violations.

 

  1. Military training provided by ex-Norwegian Special Forces to the LTTE in under water demolition techniques to help carry out attacks on port facilities and the Sri Lankan Navy at a location off the coast of Thailand could not have taken place without the knowledge of the Norwegian Government.  Visits were also arranged for LTTE delegations to study the Special Forces Military Base in Rena by the Norwegian military personnel serving in the SLMM.

 

  1. Norwegian led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission  (SLMM) is a passive unit which merely inquires and reports on violations of the ceasefire agreement.  The bias of the SLMM towards the LTTE has been demonstrated in their attempts to shield the LTTE from blame by their inventing “Unknown Third Parties”, as in the case of sinking of a Chinese cargo vessel on contract to the Sri Lankan Government in Sri Lankan territorial waters.  SLMM’s own statistics show that 95 percent of all CFA violations have been committed by the LTTE. 

 

In conclusion, Mr. Rovik pointed out that ample evidence was available for the victims of LTTE terrorism to bring a class action suit against Norway, which has provided funds to the same terrorist group knowing fully the numerous atrocities and terrorist acts carried out by this group against all of the Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalese civilian populations in Sri Lanka, in order to obtain some compensation for loss of loved ones, mutilation and other forms of suffering endured by them.  His detailed presentation can be accessed at www.svik.org/TC.pdf .

 

 

Yours very truly,

 

 

Mahinda Gunasekera

Honorary President