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One Of Interpol's Most Wanted Arrested In Thailand


sriracha john

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Tamil Tigers' finance chief arrested in Bangkok

BANGKOK -- Thai police has reportedly arrested the chief arm procurer of the Sri Lanka militant group Tamil Tigers, media here reported Tuesday, citing foreign sources.

Citing a report from online newspaper Asian Tribune from Sri Lanka, Bangkok Post and The Nation news website here said that Kumaran Pathmanadan has been arrested by police in Bangkok on Monday evening, although Thai authorities have not yet confirmed the news.

Pathmanadan is allegedly one of the top officials in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the formal name of for Tamil Tigers, and the group's chief procurer of arms. He has been on Interpol's Most Wanted list for a number of years, and also been implicated in several assassinations of political leaders.

The report said Pathmanadan apparently had obtained Thai citizenship, and he continued to run the global network of Tamil Tigers offices and its weapons procurement, logistics and money laundering operations.

His arrest followed the detention of three Tamil Tigers' operatives, who were allegedly trying to buy guns and 45,000 rounds of ammunition, in Thailand's southern coastal province of Ranong last month.

All four were suspected of running a Tamil Tiger gun-running ring centered in Thailand to smuggle weapons to the group in Sri Lanka.

Tamil Tigers has been designated as a terrorist group by most western countries, but not by Thailand.

- Xinhua

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Tamil Tiger's arm procurer chief arrested in Bangkok

Colombo - Thai police has arrested Tamil Tigers' chief procurer of arms, Shanmugan Kumaran Tharmalingam, aka Kumaran Pathmanathan or "KP" in Bangkok, according to a report of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence.

Asian Tribune online reported that Kumaran Pathmanadan is reported to have been arrested by police in Bangkok on Monday evening.

Pathmanadan apparently had obtained Thai citizenship.

He is a noted smuggler of arms and narcotics. Operating with bank accounts opened in London, Frankfurt, Denmark, Athens and Australia and he has had a free run so far.

If this arrest is confirmed it will be a big blow to the Tiger supply of arms. He is also wanted by the Interpol.

His popular bases have been Rangoon, Burma, Singapore and recently Johannesburg. He moves smoothly across and he is said to be in possession of numerous passports.

His arrest will be a big breakthrough to bust the arms smuggling rackets of the Tamil Tigers. Investigations are expected to probe deep into the international network of LTTE smuggling links, LTTE procedures, money laundering and the underworld dealers who supply arms and narcotics.

Sri Lankan authorities may decide to extradite him. They will want to interrogate him.

- The Nation

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Top Tamil Tiger arrested in Bangkok

Thailand has arrested the finance chief of the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka, allegedly the group's chief procurer of arms. Kumaran Pathmanadan is reported to have been arrested by police in Bangkok on Monday evening. He is one of the top officials in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the formal name of the group. Pathmanadan apparently had obtained Thai citizenship. He continued to run the global network of LTTE offices and its weapons procurement, logistics and money laundering operations. He has also been implicated in several assassinations of political leaders. The online newspaper Asian Tribune called him "the king pin of Tiger arms smuggling". His arrest followed the detention in Ranong province last month of three Tamil Tiger operatives trying to buy guns and 45,000 rounds of ammuntion. All four were suspected of running a Tamil Tiger gun-running ring centered in Thailand. A Jane's Intelligence report on the group stated that: "While Cambodia is the hub of the LTTE East Asia Network, Thailand continues to serve as the most important country for trans-shipment of munitions and coordination of logistics... its excellent communications infrastructure, proximity to former war zones in both Cambodia and [burma] and its western coastline facing the Bay of Bengal and Sri Lanka beyond have made Thailand the ancient interface between the LTTE's war zone."

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/tops...s.php?id=121507

Edited by sriracha john
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KPoftheLTTE.jpg

LTTE’S ELUSIVE TOP PROCUREMENT OFFICER KUMARAN PATHMANADAN OR K.P. ARRESTED IN THAILAND

By Walter Jayawardhana

The most important guy in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) military machine after Prabhakaran and Pottuamman and the world wide Tiger movement’s Chief procurement officer, Kumaran Pathmanabhan who is also known as KP, is reported to have been arrested by Thai police, the Bangkok Post reported.

“Thailand has arrested the procurement and finance chief of the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka. Kumaran Pathmanadan is reported to have been arrested by police in Bangkok on Monday evening. He is one of the top officials in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the formal name of the group,” the newspaper said.

Pathmanadan, who has apparently obtained Thai citizenship has been living in the country operating under several aliases, the sources said.

K.P. has been listed on the top of the Most Wanted list of the Interpol and wanted in several countries in the world implicated in several assassinations and other crimes.

The prize catch of the Thai authorities came after the detention in Thailand’s Ranong province last month of three Tamil Tiger operatives trying to buy guns and 45,000 rounds of ammuntion, the Bangkok Post said.

He continued to run the global network of LTTE offices and its weapons procurement, logistics and money laundering operations until his arrest in Thailand, sources said.

Together with the three Tamils arrested in August, KP was suspected of managing a Tamil Tiger gun-running ring centered in Thailand.

Thai security sources said, Pathmanadan, who also had a number of aliases, has recently been the subject of a manhunt that stretched to Johannesburg, Rangoon, Singapore and Bangkok. Police said they believed he had bank accounts in London, Frankfurt Denmark, Athens and Australia and has over 200 passports for his use.

With all kinds of agencies trying to catch him KP managed to re-supply weapons purchased in Thailand and neighbouring countries to the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. The Tigers have been designated as a terrorist group by most western countries, but not Thailand.

The arrest would not have come at a worse time than this since the LTTE has lost its main entry points of smuggled arms to Sri Lanka with the fall of the Eastern Province and more recently Silavatura to the security forces of Sri Lanka.

The most recent Jane’s intelligence Review said, "While Cambodia is the hub of the LTTE East Asia Network, Thailand continues to serve as the most important country for trans-shipment of munitions and coordination of logistics... its excellent communications infrastructure, proximity to former war zones in both Cambodia and [burma] and its western coastline facing the Bay of Bengal and Sri Lanka beyond have made Thailand the ancient interface between the LTTE's war zone."

- LankaWeb

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Tamil Tiger arms supplier arrested by Interpol in Bangkok

Sri Lanka's defence ministry Tuesday claimed that one of the most wanted Tamil Tigers had been arrested by Interpol in Bangkok, Thailand.

Quoting 'reliable sources from Thailand' the ministry said in a statement on its website that Tamil Tiger arms procurement chief Kumaran Padmanadan, also known as "KP", has been arrested in Bangkok on Monday.

It gave no further details.

- Lanka Business Online

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KP – the king pin of Tiger arms smuggling – arrested in Thailand, says Ministry of Defence

Colombo:The Tamil Tigers’ chief procurer of arms, Shanmugan Kumaran Tharmalingam, aka Kumaran Pathmanathan or “KP” (48yrs) has been arrested by Thai Police in Bangkok, according to a report of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence.

Kumaran Pathmanadan is reported to have been arrested by police in Bangkok on Monday evening.

Pathmanadan apparently had obtained Thai citizenship.

He is a noted smuggler of arms and narcotics. Operating with bank accounts opened in London, Frankfurt, Denmark, Athens and Australia and he has had a free run so far. If this arrest is confirmed it will be a big blow to the Tiger supply of arms. He is also wanted by the Interpol.

His popular bases have been Yangon, Burma, Singapore and recently Johannesburg. He moves smoothly across and he is said to be in possession of numerous passports.

- Asian Tribune

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Pathmanadan apparently had obtained Thai citizenship
Now where is the rye smile emoticon.

Regards

ROFL - so they let anyone join :o

Unbelievable .... if true. On his Interpoll mugshot above Thai is not listed as a spoken language.

I know but I bet if you had a good sniff through the UK and Belgium a few war criminals would crop up as well as wanted terrorists :D

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So this most-wanted fugative is given Thai citizenship, and perhaps doesn't even speak Thai???

Would it help my Thai citizenship case if I committed a few terroist acts??

Simon

It would help if you make god money for some important people in the military here. As long as you don't commit "terrorist acts" against Thailand or the major world powers you will be fine here. Tamil Tigers have always procured and shipped many of their weapons here, and so have done/still do many other regional insurgent groups.

Also other crime networks have found here a safe position due to the incredibly corrupt system, combined with the favorable geographical position and relative openness.

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So this most-wanted fugative is given Thai citizenship, and perhaps doesn't even speak Thai???

Would it help my Thai citizenship case if I committed a few terroist acts??

Simon

It would help if you make god money for some important people in the military here. As long as you don't commit "terrorist acts" against Thailand or the major world powers you will be fine here. Tamil Tigers have always procured and shipped many of their weapons here, and so have done/still do many other regional insurgent groups.

Also other crime networks have found here a safe position due to the incredibly corrupt system, combined with the favorable geographical position and relative openness.

Probably just buying used arms that "fell of the back of some general's truck." Nothing like a general to sponsor your citizenship application.... :o

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So this most-wanted fugative is given Thai citizenship, and perhaps doesn't even speak Thai???

Would it help my Thai citizenship case if I committed a few terroist acts??

Simon

It would help if you make god money for some important people in the military here. As long as you don't commit "terrorist acts" against Thailand or the major world powers you will be fine here. Tamil Tigers have always procured and shipped many of their weapons here, and so have done/still do many other regional insurgent groups.

Also other crime networks have found here a safe position due to the incredibly corrupt system, combined with the favorable geographical position and relative openness.

He must have fallen out of favour or messed up / cheated in some deal to get arrested here? :o

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Operative's Arrest Is Major Blow To LTTE: Indian Officials

The reported arrest of the man who ran the highly secretive global arms procurement wing of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers for over two decades is a serious blow to the insurgent group, Indian officials say.

Tharmalingam Shanmughan, alias Kumaran Pathmanathan, alias KP, has also been linked to the explosives that were used to assassinate former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991 in Tamil Nadu, according to these officials.

KP, as he is widely known, was reportedly arrested from Bangkok Monday evening. The reports added that KP, who often toured the world on the strength of the numerous passports he held, had obtained Thai citizenship.

A senior Indian official told IANS that Indian authorities were aware of the reported arrest. 'It is true and it is a body blow to the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). It could cut off LTTE's arms supply lines.'

Another official added: 'It is a big blow. He was one of their key persons. His arrest will only add to the LTTE's cup of woes.'

According to the officials, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which probed Gandhi's assassination, linked the 2.4 mm Singapore Fragmentation Grenade (SFG) pellets in the suicide belt used to kill him to a lot smuggled by KP's department.

Also linked to KP, according to the CBI, was a 9 mm pistol that Sivarasan, the LTTE operative who oversaw Gandhi's killing, used to commit suicide near Bangalore to avoid capture. 'To that extent we had wanted to question him. He is a suspect in the case.'

According to the officials, KP - who had no direct involvement in Gandhi's assassination - was suspected of passing a wireless message to a Sri Lankan Tamil man in Tamil Nadu in September 1990 warning of a possible attack on 'the Indian leadership'.

Belonging to Myliddy in Jaffna, KP has stayed one step ahead of all his pursuers ever since the responsibility of putting in place a solid global network of arms supply was entrusted to him in the early 1980s.

KP was a roaring success by everyone's reckoning, and the LTTE had slowly and steadily built up an infrastructure spread over several countries that kept the group supplied with sophisticated arms and ammunition even in the worst of circumstances.

Within years, the LTTE began operating a shipping fleet that reportedly carried both legal and illegal contraband.

According to Peter Chalk, an expert on terrorism, KP held a variety of bank accounts in Britain, Germany, Denmark, Greece and Australia and his main operational bases were located in Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand and, in later years, South Africa.

Over time, the LTTE's global weapons procurement team came to be known as the 'KP department'.

According to Chalk, KP and his men got 'no formal military training... However (they) received intensive instructions in a number of other areas including document forgery, gun running, communications, international freight shipping and investing'.

According to Indian officials, KP lived in India for a while in the 1980s, during which time he reportedly turned a farmhouse at Vellore in Tamil Nadu into a secure hideout and befriended a shipping magnate and his wife in Mumbai.

One official said that KP's arrest could turn out to be the biggest loss to the LTTE since the 2004 defection of Karuna, who was at that time the Tigers' special commander of Sri Lanka's eastern province.

- News Post India

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Tamil rebels' top gun-runner arrested in Thailand, Sri Lankan Defense Ministry says

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: A senior Tamil Tiger rebel leader, who allegedly led the group's international arms procurement network in its two-decade fight against Sri Lankan forces — has been arrested in Thailand, the government said Tuesday.

"Reliable sources from Thailand reveal that LTTE's chief for crossborder terrorist activities, Kumaran Padmanadan, alias 'KP' has been arrested in Bangkok on Sept. 10," the Defense Ministry said on its Web site, referring to the rebels by the initials of their official name — the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

"Padmanadan is one of the most wanted terrorists by the International Police (Interpol) who has been running the global procurement network of the LTTE terrorists," it said.

Officials in Bangkok denied knowledge of the arrest.

"I have checked with all divisions concerned. Nobody has information about arresting any Sri Lankan man," said Maj. Gen. Trithot Ronnaritwichai, deputy chief of Thailand's Special Branch police, which deals with matters concerning foreigners and terrorism.

The secretary general of the National Security Council, Prakit Prachaonpachanuk, also denied the report, saying "We have no information about arresting a Sri Lanka terrorist."

Diplomats at the Sri Lankan Embassy in Bangkok declined to comment on the issue.

Sri Lanka's Defense Ministry, citing local defense intelligence sources, said Padmanadan's division was the rebels' oldest international wing and was concerned with "procurement."

News of the alleged arrest comes as the Sri Lankan navy said it sank three rebel ships packed with weapons and carrying light aircraft, dealing a major blow it said to the rebels' smuggling operation.

Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan was not available for an immediate comment.

In a report in August, the London-based Jane's Intelligence Review said the Tamil Tigers used a world-wide network of fake charities and a sophisticated smuggling operation to raise up to US$300 million (€217 million) a year to fund their separatist battle.

The report said the Tigers' fund-raising prowess enabled the group to develop "one of the most sophisticated insurgencies in the world," which includes an army, navy and even a primitive air force of a few light aircraft.

The rebels have been fighting since 1983 to create a separate homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, who have suffered decades of discrimination by majority Sinhalese-controlled governments.

A Norwegian-brokered cease-fire in 2002 brought relative calm to the country, but a new wave of violence that began in December 2005 has killed more than 5,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. More than 70,000 people have been killed since the insurgency began.

- Associated Press

==============================================================================

There's nearly the confusion level regarding this arrest as there was with Hambali....

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Colombo awaits confirmation of top LTTE arms procurer's arrest

The Sri Lankan government is awaiting official confirmation of the arrest of top LTTE arms procurer and smuggler, Kumaran Pathmanathan, better known as KP, in Bangkok on Monday.

"We have only seen media reports about his arrest. We are yet to get confirmation," the Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary, Dr Palitha Kohona, told Hindustan Times on Tuesday.

Sri Lankan officials say that if indeed KP has been arrested, it is "absolutely certain" that a "major dent" has been made in the LTTE's multi-million dollar arms procurement network.

This is bound to affect the LTTE's military capability both in the short and the long run. KP, after all, has for decades been the kingpin of the illegal and clandestine racket and is also one of the most trusted men in Tiger chieftain Velupillai Prabhakaran's inner circle.

"If he has been arrested, it shows that the Sri Lankan government is succeeding in its efforts to get other countries to crackdown on the LTTE financial and arms procurement networks.

Due to our intense efforts, 17 LTTE operatives were arrested in the US, 14 in France, three in Australia and two in the UK. Last week three LTTE operatives were extradited to Sri Lanka from Thailand," Foreign Secretary Kohona said.

He is believed to have been in Mumbai at the time of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in Tamil Nadu on May 21, 1991.He escaped within five days of the event when he got wind of the manhunt for him.

However, KP was not directly linked to the assassination. He was not among the 41 persons against whom the Special Investigating Team filed a charge sheet. Later, the CBI had wanted him for arms smuggling, and Interpol's assistance was sought to arrest him.

Since 1991, the Indian Navy and agencies had been keeping a tab on KP and the LTTE's arms procurement and smuggling activities and had helped the Sri Lankan government destroy some gun running ships with timely intelligence.

In one case in 1993, the Indian Navy intercepted an arms ship with the top leader Kittu on board off the Indian coast. When challenged, Kittu ordered the blowing up of the ship and went down with it.

KP has been using Thailand as a major transshipment point for weapons acquired from war-torn Cambodia and other places across the globe. He is in charge of the LTTE's fleet of ships, which transport the arms apart from legitimate cargo. He has been adept at exploiting rampant corruption in Third World countries like Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia to feed the LTTE's gargantuan appetite for sophisticated arms.

However, three to four years ago, there were reports that Prabhakaran and KP had fallen out. Media reports said that the seizures and destruction of arms vessels had come for adverse comment from the Tiger chieftain.

But in 2003 there were reports that Prabhakaran was trying to rehabilitate KP by making him a member of the LTTE's team for the peace talks with the Sri Lankan government. The LTTE had tried to push a person called Shanmugam Kumaran Tharmalingam, who, the Sri Lankan government suspected, was none other than KP. KP's real name is Tharmalingam Shanmugam Kumaran.

- Hindustan Times

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excerpts from:

Top LTTE man arrested in Bangkok

Top LTTE terrorist Kumaran Padmanathan, alias KP, a key accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has been arrested in Bangkok and the CBI has sought his immediate extradition from Thailand.

Soon after Padmanathan's arrest on Monday, the CBI approached the Thai government, giving details of the case pending against him, and sought its assistance in handing him over to face trial in India, sources in the agency said.

The sources said details were still trickling in and initial information suggested he was nabbed after three LTTE militants were detained last month in Thailand's Ranong province while trying to buy guns and 45,000 rounds of ammunition.

The three militants and Padmanathan were suspected to be involved in a LTTE gun-running network based in Thailand, they said.

Jane's Defence Intelligence Review, the premier London-based defence magazine, recently reported that the LTTE had two international wings - KP Department and Aiyanna Group - that are engaged in global terrorist activities.

The CBI had been on KP's trail for over a decade. As part of its quest for the terrorist leader, a CBI team travelled to New Zealand in 2002 and questioned three Tamil nationals after securing permission from authorities in that country, sources said.

The agency also sent letters to Sweden where Padmanathan, a close aide of LTTE chief V Prabhakaran, was believed to be hiding.

Swedish authorities, however, told the CBI that he had fled the country and his whereabouts were not known.

Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991 by a LTTE suicide bomber at an election rally in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. In January 1998, 26 people were convicted for killing him.

- Press Trust of India

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Confusion over capture of Tigers' arms procurer

Thai authorities arrested the Tamil Tigers' chief arms procurer, Shanmugan Kumaran Tharmalingam, also known as Kumaran Pathmanathan or "KP", in Bangkok on Monday, according to the Sri Lankan defence ministry's official website.

But Thai Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Piyira Khempon said the government was not aware of the arrest, if any was made.

Thai police spokesman Lt General Narong Yangyern dismissed the report. He said a thorough check showed that the last time Thai police arrested any LTTE member was in 2003 and he was extradited on August 15, 2007 to Sri Lanka.

According to online newspaper Asia Tribune's report out of Sri Lanka's capital of Colombo, KP had obtained Thai citizenship and was married to a Thai woman.

A senior Thai intelligence officer confirmed that KP has been travelling in and out of Thailand over the years, but also dismissed the report that he was arrested on Thai soil.

According to the Tribune report, KP is a noted smuggler of arms and narcotics. Operating with bank accounts in London, Frankfurt, Denmark, Athens and Australia, he has had a free run so far.

"If indeed KP has been arrested, it would be a big blow to the LTTE. He is one man who can reveal the massive network of the LTTE on procurement worldwide," said Iqbal Athas, a Colombo-based security expert who follows the civil war there.

"Though known to be inactive, the fact that he has reportedly surfaced in Thailand is significant. This is in light of the military crackdown on the LTTE in Sri Lanka," Athas added.

According to the Tribune, KP's favourite bases have been Rangoon in Burma, Singapore and recently Johannesburg.

He moves smoothly across borders and is said to be in possession of numerous passports.

His arrest will be a big breakthrough to smash the arms smuggling racket of the Tamil Tigers. Investigations are expected to probe deep into the international network of LTTE smuggling links, LTTE procedures, money laundering and the underworld dealers who supply weapons and drugs.

- The Nation

=========================================================================

well, if he did get arrested and he is being held..... both India and Sri Lanka want him:

India wants Tamil Tiger

India has indicated it wants the Thai government to extradite a top Tamil Tiger member believed to have financed the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. One of the top LTTE terrorists, Kumaran Padmanathan alias KP, was reportedly arrested in Bangkok after information provided by the government of Sri Lanka, Interpol and other agencies. According to reports in the Indian media this morning, the Central Bureau of Investigation has sought his immediate extradition from Thailand. Police have not yet confirmed or even commented on the reported arrest of the Tamil Tiger official. Soon after Padmanathan's reported arrest on Monday, the CBI approached the Thai government, the Indian media report, citing unnamed sources in the agency. Padmanathan, also known as Shanmugan Kumaran Tharmalingham, was based in Thailand and Cambodia and controlled a global network that supplied weapons to the Tamil Tigers. CBI believes his extradition could help unravel the conspiracy behind the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. The problem is, Sri Lanka is also keen to lay its hands on Padmanathan. According to the Indian media, while the Indian mission in Bangkok has confirmed that the person detained by Thai authorities is KP, CBI's effort to secure his extradition has run into resistance from Sri Lanka.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/tops...s.php?id=121540

Edited by sriracha john
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Tamil Tiger arms supplier arrested by Interpol in Bangkok

Sri Lanka's defence ministry Tuesday claimed that one of the most wanted Tamil Tigers had been arrested by Interpol in Bangkok, Thailand.

Quoting 'reliable sources from Thailand' the ministry said in a statement on its website that Tamil Tiger arms procurement chief Kumaran Padmanadan, also known as "KP", has been arrested in Bangkok on Monday.

It gave no further details.

- Lanka Business Online

So he even calls him by his nickname.

Is there no limit to corruption in this country. Does Abrahomovic have a British passport yet?

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