FIRM ACTION ON SRI LANKAN TERRORISTS BY OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
Maryland based Tamil Foundation was designated as a front organization for the LTTE terrorist outfit of Sri Lanka by the United States Department of Treasury. This designation comes into effective from today Wednesday the 11th of February under Executive Order 13224 which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism.
[ad#200×200]The announcement by the Treasury Department said that under the Executive Order, any assets the Tamil Foundation has under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, and U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the Tamil Foundation.
The Tamil Foundation is registered in based at 517 E. Oldtown Road, Cumberland, MD 21502 and its Tax ID number is 52-1699409.
The Tamils Rehabilitation Organization was banned by the U.S. as a terrorist support group in November 2007 and the same president of that banned organization is also the head of the Tamil Foundation.
The statement from the Treasury Department further said that the Tamil Foundation and the TRO have co-mingled funds and carried out coordinated financial actions for some time and the two organizations were linked through a matching gift program facilitated by the common leadership of both.
Designating Tamil Foundation a front organization for the LTTE, Adam J. Szubin the Director of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Control said ‘the LTTE, like other terrorist groups, has relied on so-called charities to raise funds and advance its violent aims”.
“We will continue to aggressively target attempts by any terrorist group to hide behind charities, front companies, or name changes to propagate terror against innocents around the world,” Szubin added.
This firm action by the fresh Obama administration has sent a strong signal across the globe that the terrorists will have no place in the U.S. and they will be hunted wherever they will be.
According to the analysts, this is a favourable boost to the Sri Lankan government by the present U.S. administration on its war against the terrorists. It is expected that various other countries will also take necessary precautions to ban the pro-terror charities and foundations effectively.
by Shripal Nishshanka Fernando