One Of Interpol's Most Wanted Arrested In Thailand

[Mid]

Thai police deny Tamil Tiger leader held in Bangkok

Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:19AM IST

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai police said on Wednesday there was no truth to reports triggered by an allegation on a Sri Lankan government Web site that a top Tamil Tiger leader had been arrested in Bangkok.

snip

reuters.com

[Payboy]

Thai police deny Tamil Tiger leader held in Bangkok

so they let him go then.....?

Edited September 12, 2007 by Payboy

[sonnyJ]

Third World countries like Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia

- Hindustan Times

At least they got this part right.

[sriracha john]

a possible explanation near the end of this article?

Thailand denies knowledge of arrest of Tamil Tiger financier

Bangkok - Thai authorities on Wednesday flatly denied any knowledge about the alleged arrest in Bangkok of Tamil Tiger financier Kumaran Padmanathan earlier this week. "No one knows anything at all (about this) among the government agencies," said Thai Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Piriya Khemponroeign. "We have no knowledge of anything. All we know is from the newspapers."

Thailand's national police spokesman Lieutenant General Ronnarong Youngyuen said he had checked with all the related police bureaus and found no reports on Kumaran's arrest.

"There was no arrest," Rannarong told Deutsche Prsse-Agentur dpa. "Kumaran didn't come here."

The initial report on the Monday arrest of Kumaran, a key member of the Tamil rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) allegedly involved in purchasing military hardware for the rebel movement in foreign countries, came out of Colombo, citing the Asian Tribune online website.

Although Thai authorities have thus far flatly denied that the arrest took place, police in India and Sri Lanka appear to remain in the dark.

India's Crime Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Vijay Shanker was quoted saying Wednesday that he had approached Thai authorities and Interpol Bangkok to confirm Kumaran's detention but had received "no response."

Kumaran, 49, allegedly financed the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan government on Wednesday was reportedly seeking Kumaran's deportation from Thailand.

A Sri Lankan government spokesman claimed the arrest was made by the Interpol and not by Thai government.

There have been allegations that the LTTE has purchased weapons from Thailand in the past, and a plot to build a suicide submarine for the Tigers in Phuket, a Thai resort island, was uncovered several years ago.

- DPA

[taxexile]

Thai Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Piriya Khemponroeign. "We have no knowledge of anything. All we know is from the newspapers."

so its business as usual then.

[bartender100]

Im sure he tried to sell me a suit on beach road

[sriracha john]

CBI sceptical in Thai denial on LTTE operative detention

New Delhi: The CBI here has reacted with scepticism to Thailand authorities' denial of media reports that a high level Tamil Tiger operative has been arrested there.

A senior CBI official, on condition of anonynimity, here said despite the denial by Thai officials the fact that Kumaran Padmanathan, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's murder suspect, had been detained in Bangkok cannot be dismissed.

''They are weighing the options of disclosing the information as it is a sensitive matter and involves two countries -- Sri Lanka and India -- where Padmanathan is 'wanted'.'' The Thai authorities even might be talking to Sri Lanka to 'send' Padmanathan there, he said, adding the denial might have been a face-saver to shield themselves from diplomatic 'pressure'.

''They would certainly come out, and that too soon, on the detention after going through all the aspects of the matter.'' Meanwhile, CBI spokesman said the agency had not received any intimation on the matter from the Thailand government even till late evening today.

''No reply has come yet from the Thai government on our request to verify reports that the LTTE operative had been detained there.'' ''We had sent a letter in this regard to them but they have yet to respond to our request,'' he added.

Earlier, in Bangkok, Thai Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Piyira Khempon said the government was not aware of any cadre member of the Sri Lankan insurgent group being detained in Bangkok this week.

Sources in the Sri Lankan Embassy in Bangkok told UNI that they were not aware of any such arrest.

Local media reports there also quoted a Thai national police spokesman denying the report first published on the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry website yesterday and picked by online news portals.

According to the reports, Kumaran Padmanathan, allegedly the chief arms procurer for the Tamil Tigers, had been arrested in Bangkok on September 10 on charges of running an arms purchase and smuggling operation from Thailand on behalf of Sri Lankan rebels.

Thai police spokesman Lt General Narong Yangyern said the last time an LTTE member had last been arrested in Thailand was in 2003 and he was extradited to Sri Lanka last month.

- UNI, New Kerala

[Pepe']

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

-----------------

One might think but probably not...

[sriracha john]

No record of KP arrest: Thailand

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has approached authorities in Thailand to confirm the arrest of Kumaran Pathmanathan, allegedly involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

However, Thailand on Wednesday denied reports about the arrest. “According to immigration records for the past two years, there is no record of him (Pathmanathan) entering the country,” Chief of Thai Interpol, Col Apichart Suribynya, told reporters in Bangkok, adding that there have been no arrest of Sri Lankans in the past three to four days.

*Of course, keeping in mind that the subject allegedly possesses 200 different passports, presumably with different names and likely from an assortment of countries*

Deputy Chief of Thailand’s Special Branch police, Maj Gen Trithot Ronnaritwichai, also denied that Padmanathan, better known as KP, had been arrested. “I have checked with all divisions concerned. No body has information about arresting any Sri Lankan man,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Bangkok said it was awaiting response from the Thai Government on its request for confirmation of the reports of arrest of Padmanabhan on charges of gun-running.

“We have asked the Interpol in Bangkok to confirm it,” CBI director Vijay Shankar said during an Interpol conference on cyber crime here on Wednesday. “Thailand has been very cooperative in the past and I see no reason for them not continuing with such relations particularly when he is a Proclaimed Offender and a fugitive,” added Shankar.

- Indian Express

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

Top LTTE arms procurer may be under detention but not arrest

Kumaran Padmanathan, the head of the department of arms procurement in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), is under "detention", though not "legally under arrest," informed circles in Colombo believe.

Speaking on condition of anonymity they said that KP was under "heavy surveillance", a term which security experts interpreted as a euphemism for "sustained and intense questioning."

The Sri Lankan authorities who also believe that the Thais had detained KP, felt constrained by the fact that the Thai authorities were publicly denying a detention or arrest . "We cannot confirm the arrest until the Thai authorities do so," a top military official told Hindustan Times in Colombo on Wednesday.

DR Kaarthikeyan, the head of the Special Investigating Team (SIT) which probed the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, believes that the Thais have detained KP.

"It is certain that a person answering to the description of Kumaran Padmanathan has been detained by the Thai authorities," Kaarthikeyan said over the phone from New Delhi.

Apparently, the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also believes that KP has been detained, though not "arrested". The CBI Director Vijay Shanker at a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday declined to use the term "arrest", which is a legal act, and preferred to use "detention" instead.

But many other Sri Lankan and Indian officials are not absolutely sure that the man in detention is KP. The identity of the detainee has to be established before making a formal announcement of his arrest.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary, Palitha Kohana, had said that if the identity was established, Sri Lanka would promptly seek KP's extradition. India too would seek to extradite him or question him for his alleged involvement in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the CBI Director Vijay Shanker said.

- Hindustan Times

Edited September 13, 2007 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

Indian Foreign Minister to seek confirmation of KP’s arrest

Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Thailand starting on Thursday has acquired a new dimension — added to the agenda would be the arrest of LTTE leader Kumaran Padmanathan aka KP.

The Indian embassy in Bangkok has asked the Thai government for confirmation that KP was arrested in Thailand on Monday. "We have sought confirmation from the Thai side and await their response," an embassy official in Bangkok was quoted as saying.

Mukherjee will be in Thailand for two days as co-chair of the fifth joint commission meeting and is expected to have bilateral discussions with the Thai foreign minister and even call on the king. The discussions now have a sharper edge — as India probes whether Thailand has nabbed one of the biggest LTTE leaders.

Even as the CBI dispatched a request to Bangkok Interpol, Thai officials went on record to deny that KP was caught. "According to immigration records for the past two years, there is no record of him (Padmanathan) entering the country," chief of Thai Interpol Col Apichart Suribynya told reporters in Bangkok, adding that there have been no arrest of Sri Lankans in the past three to four days.

Deputy chief of Thailand’s Special Branch police Maj Gen Trithot Ronnaritwichai also denied that Padmanathan, better known as KP, had been arrested.

"I have checked with all divisions concerned. Nobody has information about arresting any Sri Lankan man," he said.

Sri Lankan reports said KP was travelling on a Thai passport, so he wouldn’t be known as a Sri Lankan.

But one thing is clear: until the Thai government gives a formal notification to either India or Sri Lanka, neither government can take the next step, that is asking for the deportation of the terrorist.

Thailand has been known to be a logistics centre for the LTTE, particularly on its western coast. It has been used by LTTE to ship weapons to its north-east hideout in Jaffna.

- Time of India

[sriracha john]

Defence leak cause for ‘KP’ arrest denial

The Defence Ministry “leak” of the arrest of LTTE’s arms procurement Chief Kumaran Padmanathan and the wide media publicity it generated led to Thailand authorities denying the reports until he was deported to Sri Lanka owing to its sensitivity, well informed government sources told the Daily Mirror yesterday.

While insisting that the LTTE frontliner, also known as ‘KP’ was under Thai custody and moves were afoot to seek his deportation to Sri Lanka the source said that Thailand wanted to ensure his identity was verified before going public, but at the same time was also concerned the publicity over his arrest could hamper further investigations. “He has multiple passports including a Thai one so Thailand can easily deny they don’t have a Sri Lankan in their custody under that name. The fact is that this story should not have come out until he was deported to Sri Lanka,” the source said.

The Defence Ministry website, earlier this week, quoted reliable sources from Thailand as saying that the LTTE's chief for cross border terrorist activities had been arrested in Bangkok. Thailand was, however, quick to deny the reports while the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry refused to comment.

Meanwhile the Indian Express reported that the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had approached authorities in Thailand to confirm the arrest of Pathmanathan, who was allegedly involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

The Indian Embassy in Bangkok said it was awaiting a response from the Thai Government on its request for confirmation of the reports of arrest of Padmanathan on charges of gun-running. In 2003 three LTTE operatives were arrested in the Ranong province in Thailand together with 10 Glock pistols and three HK Mark 23 pistols. The LTTE operatives, who were recently deported to Sri Lanka, pleaded guilty and received five year jail sentences in November 2003.

Following the arrest, 14 Thais were also arrested, and among them were 8 from the police and the military. They were believed to be in the same gun-smuggling ring.

- Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

[Shah Jahan]

I think they picked him up to trade for Tucksin

Edited September 14, 2007 by Shah Jahan

[sriracha john]

the ultimate headline....

KP confusion: Government denies Thai denial

Despite Interpol itself denying reports of the arrest of LTTE kingpin Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP, a Government Minister yesterday claimed he was arrested and his extradition had been sought through the Foreign Ministry. “According to immigration records of the past two years, there is no record of him entering the country,” Thai Interpol Chief Col. Apichart Suribunya, told the Associated Press on Tuesday, adding there had been no arrests of Sri Lankans in the past three to four days.However addressing the media at the Information Department yesterday, Minister Gamini Lokuge said the Foreign Ministry has already requested Interpol to make arrangements to deport KP to Sri Lanka.

“This man is wanted not only by the Sri Lankan Government but by many other countries and the world’s top police agency, Interpol,” Minister Lokuge said.

When told by the Daily Mirror that the arrest of KP had been denied by the Thai Government, Minister Lokuge said the arrest has nothing to do with the Thai government as it was the work of Interpol.

The militant is being kept by the world police body in Thailand, he said.

Asked whether the Sri Lanka Government was going to make a request to the Thai Government to deport him, he said a formal request was to be made by the Foreign Ministry.

“But it takes time for a country-to-country deportation as it will have to be carried out according to the treaties existing between the two governments. If there was no deportation treaty between Sri Lanka and Thailand it would be a problem,” he said.

Meanwhile, Thai police was quoted by Reuters yesterday as saying there was no truth in reports triggered by an allegation on a Sri Lankan Government website that a top Tamil Tiger leader had been arrested in Bangkok.

“I've checked with related police bureaus -- the Immigration Police, the Metropolitan Police and the Special Branch. There has been no report of a Tiger rebel arrested in Bangkok,” national police spokesman Lieutenant-General Ronnarong Youngyuen said. “If we'd arrested him, we would have made good publicity out of it,” he told Reuters.

The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry site at www.defence.lk said “reliable sources from Thailand reveal that LTTE's chief for cross border terrorist activities, Kumaran Padmanadan alias KP has been arrested in Bangkok.”

- Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

Edited September 14, 2007 by sriracha john

[Mid]

Kumaran not detained: Pranab

NDTV Correspondent

Friday, September 14, 2007 (Bangkok)

It was after all a false alarm. The hopes of the CBI to get hold of the elusive LTTE fundraiser Kumaran Padmanathan have been dashed.

The development comes in the wake of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee saying that it was conveyed to the Indian mission in Bangkok that Kumaran has not been detained as reported.

Mukherjee who is on a three-day visit to Thailand, said this in Bangkok on Friday.

Thai Interpol had earlier conveyed to the CBI that there is no immigration record of Kumaran entering Thailand in the last two years.

CBI wants Kumaran as he is believed to be the one who funded the Rajiv Gandhi assassination.

Kumaran is also high on the Interpol's wanted list.

ndtv.com

wonder if this guy well be seen or heard of again .............................................

Edited September 14, 2007 by Mid

[lazeeboy]

Interpol's Most Wanted List Poster:

The picture on the left looks like what i suspect to be Freddy mercury!! Is Elvis here 2 ??

yer he's in samui plays 6 nights a week ,changed his name to richie newton

[Carmine6]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...&refer=asia

Sri Lanka Destroys Rebel Navy Flotilla, Raids Financial Center

By Paul Tighe

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lankan naval forces destroyed about 30 boats of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and attacked its financial center in the northeast after threatening last month to drive the rebels from the region.

Navy vessels and air force jets attacked the flotilla and the launching base at Mullaittivu late yesterday as the rebel Sea Tigers unit was ``preparing for a clandestine mission,'' the army said on its Web site.

Air force jets bombed the LTTE's financial center at Puthukuduiruppu, near Mullaittivu, earlier yesterday, the government said. At least 12 bombs exploded near a college in the town, injuring several students, TamilNet reported on its Web site, without saying where it obtained the information.

Sri Lanka's military has increased attacks on the Sea Tigers and LTTE land forces since taking control of the east in July after 14 years of fighting, dealing a blow to the group's demands for a separate homeland in the north and east of the South Asian island nation.

The army intends to drive the LTTE from the northeast, Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said last month. The group still holds areas in the northern Jaffna peninsula, including its headquarters at Kilinochchi.

Three LTTE vessels carrying military supplies were destroyed Sept. 11 off the southern coast. The navy has eliminated most of the vessels used by the group for weapons smuggling, Navy Commander Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda said at a briefing three days ago.

Sea Base

Sri Lanka's army on Sept. 2 captured a sea base in the Silavathurai area near the northwestern port of Mannar and said it was used by the LTTE as a weapons transit center. India and Sri Lanka have increased patrols in the Palk Strait between the countries to stop the rebels transporting weapons.

A leader of the Sea Tigers unit was among six commanders killed in a sea battle off the eastern coast last month, the Defense Ministry said at the time.

Yesterday's raid targeted the alleged head of the LTTE's financial wing, a man known as Thamilendi, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on its Web site.

``Defense observers say that the pilots' achievement would add to the woes of the LTTE, which is drawing nearer to its end,'' the ministry said.

The Tamil Tigers have increased illegal tax collections since its global money raising efforts were curtailed by anti- terrorism legislation in various countries, it said. The LTTE is classified as a terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union and India.

The conflict between the government and the LTTE escalated a year ago as two attempts at peace talks in Geneva failed to make progress toward ending the two-decade insurgency.

The Tamil Tigers have an estimated 12,000 fighters, including 4,000 members of the Sea Tigers force.

[Mid]

Thai police received 20-mln-dollar bribe to free LTTE's Padmanathan: Web site

New Delhi, Sept 14 : An Indian web site has claimed that Kumaran Padmanathan, LTTE's logistic mastermind in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was reportedly arrested in Thailand, was freed after he paid a bribe of 20 million dollars to Thai police.

According to politicsparty.com, sources in Thai intelligence agencies were quoted as saying that during his interrogation, Padmanathan revealed the names of several conspirators involved in Gandhi's assassination.

snip

newkerala.com

[sriracha john]

LTTE Paid 20 Million Dollars Bribe To Thailand Police

politicsparty.com bases this analysis from highly placed sources in the intelligence community in Thailand. The LTTE logistics mastermind of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, Padmanathan, was arrested by the police in Thailand.

Padmanathan was interrogated thoroughly and highly classified details of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination were obtained by the Thai authorities. Padmanathan also gave enormous information about the money routes, sources, freighting, procurement of arms, deployment of arms, and tons of other data.

Padmanathan also revealed the names of several conspirators involved in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination. Padmanathan then struck a deal with Thailand authorities to allow him to flee. The deal was finalized after Padmanathan arranged for 20 million dollars.

Thailand is now under Army rule. The Bush administration of the USA has tremendous influence on the the military dictatorship in Thailand. It is obvious that the entire details of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination revealed by Padmanathan to the Thai authorities is available with the US intelligence agencies.

politicsparty.com requests the government of India to request the governments of Thailand and the US to give to India the entire information on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination available with their intelligence agencies.

- politicsparty.com

[Shah Jahan]

LTTE Paid 20 Million Dollars Bribe To Thailand Police

politicsparty.com bases this analysis from highly placed sources in the intelligence community in Thailand. The LTTE logistics mastermind of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, Padmanathan, was arrested by the police in Thailand.

Padmanathan was interrogated thoroughly and highly classified details of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination were obtained by the Thai authorities. Padmanathan also gave enormous information about the money routes, sources, freighting, procurement of arms, deployment of arms, and tons of other data.

Padmanathan also revealed the names of several conspirators involved in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination. Padmanathan then struck a deal with Thailand authorities to allow him to flee. The deal was finalized after Padmanathan arranged for 20 million dollars.

Thailand is now under Army rule. The Bush administration of the USA has tremendous influence on the the military dictatorship in Thailand. It is obvious that the entire details of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination revealed by Padmanathan to the Thai authorities is available with the US intelligence agencies.

politicsparty.com requests the government of India to request the governments of Thailand and the US to give to India the entire information on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination available with their intelligence agencies.

- politicsparty.com

Personally I think they let him go in exchange for snuffing out tokesin

[sriracha john]

A plausible explanation with a precedence?....

Indian spymaster speculates whether KP whisked away by FBI

Adding further confusion to the alleged arrest of top LTTE international operative Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP) in Thailand, a former head of the counter terrorism unit at the Indian intelligence agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) B. Raman has speculated whether KP had been whisked away by the FBI to be questioned by them on the LTTE's links with Al Qaeda.

Raman's speculation comes amidst reports that a top Sri Lankan defence and intelligence team that went to Thailand last week to secure KP's deportation to Sri Lanka had failed, with the Thai authorities denying that KP had been arrested by them. KP, who was believed to have been arrested by Interpol in Thailand a fortnight ago, was also wanted by India in connection with the assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

B. Raman who was also a top Indian civil servant and known as a spymaster writing to a think tank called the South Asia Analysis Group said: "In September 2003, the Thai Police informally picked up Hambali, the then operational chief of Indonesia's Jemmah Islamiyah, at Ayuthaya and handed him over to the FBI, which flew him out to Diego Garcia for questioning. He was then reportedly shifted to Guantanamo Bay. The Thai Police have not so far officially admitted his arrest. The Americans did not confirm for a long time that he was in their custody. They did not allow the Indonesians to join in his interrogation. They did not hand him over to the Indonesian Police.

"Has a similar thing happened in the case of KP? Have the Americans whisked him out of Thailand without his being formally arrested in order to question him on the LTTE's links with Al Qaeda and pro-Al Qaeda jihadi organisations such as the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) of Pakistan and Abu Sayyaf of the Philippines? In the last two years, two operations of the LTTE to procure and smuggle arms and ammunition, including surface-to-air missiles, from the US had been neutralised by the FBI, which would be interested in questioning KP about them. KP is of interest not only to India and Sri Lanka, but also to the US."

Raman who is presently the Director of the Institute for Topical Studies in Chennai further said in his paper: "The denial by the Thai Police of the "arrest" of KP did not mean that they had not informally picked up a person with a Thai passport, believed to be identical with KP, for questioning. It is known that the police forces in South and South-East Asia generally avoid formally arresting a terrorist suspect before investigation is complete because a formal arrest means he has to be produced before a court within a certain period of time. The majority of Al Qaeda suspects informally picked up by the Pakistani intelligence and handed over to the US' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had never formally been arrested and hence there are no records with the Pakistan Police regarding their arrest. The relatives of these persons have filed habeas corpus petitions before the Pakistan Supreme Court. The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has denied that they were "arrested" and denied having any knowledge of their whereabouts. Some of them are alleged to be in the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba.

"In its official web site, the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry announced on September 11, 2007, that the Thai authorities had arrested, in Bangkok, on September 10, 2007, the LTTE's chief arms procurer, Shanmugan Kumaran Tharmalingam, also known as Kumaran Pathmanathan or "KP". However, Mr.Piyira Khempon, a spokesman of the Thai Foreign Ministry, was quoted as saying that the Government was not aware of any such arrest. Dismissing the report, Thai police spokesman Lt General Narong Yangyern was quoted as saying that a thorough check had shown that the last time the Thai police had arrested any LTTE member was in 2003 and that he had been extradited on August 15, 2007 to Sri Lanka. In a report datelined Colombo, the "Asia Tribune", an online newspaper, claimed that KP had obtained Thai citizenship and was married to a Thai woman.

- Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

[Mid]

Thailand helping India combat cross-border terrorism:Thai PM

Bangkok, Sep 19 : Thailand is cooperating with India in tackling cross-border terrorism, Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said here today.

Talking to UNI after a meeting with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the Thai head of government said he had no knowledge of the reported arrest of a top level Tiger operative in Thailand.

''I don't have any information at the moment, but we are trying to help each other by taking care of what we may say...the terrorist organisation...not only Sri Lankan one but also terrorists who may practice cross-border terrorism,'' he said.

Mr Surayud said he expected the India-Thai FTA to be signed some time early next year.

--- UNI

newkerala.com

[sriracha john]

UPDATE

Sri Lanka Rebel Arms-Buying Goes Global

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — He's known only as KP, and he runs a shadowy smuggling network that stretches from the skyscrapers of New York to the suicide bomber training camps of Sri Lanka.

At 52, with a medium build, mustache, slight paunch and thinning hair, KP operates right under the nose of the West, which experts say is so preoccupied with al-Qaida that it largely ignores other terrorist groups, even ones as accomplished as Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers.

The Tigers are thought to have pioneered the explosive vests used in suicide bombings, and with the West distracted, they carry out crimes worldwide — such as an alleged plan to loot ATM machines in New York — to fund their fight for a homeland for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority. It's a campaign that has led to 70,000 deaths in the past 24 years.

In dozens of interviews with Sri Lankan officials, Western diplomats and former rebels, The Associated Press found that the Tigers raise $200 million to $300 million a year, mostly through extortion and fraud. They then use front companies or middlemen to buy arms from legitimate weapons makers in Europe and Asia and move them back to Sri Lanka on their own ships.

KP, for example, buys weapons in places like Thailand, Indonesia, Bulgaria and South Africa. He has dozens of passports — Indian, Egyptian, Malaysian and more — along with a steady hand for forging whatever paperwork he doesn't have, Sri Lankan officials say.

The money comes from places like New York, where eight suspects have been arrested in the ATM scandal and seven others are accused of trying to bribe U.S. officials to drop the Tigers from the government's list of terror groups. One suspect once worked for Microsoft Corp. and allegedly helped the Tigers buy computers, according to court papers.

Another suspect was caught with a laptop with spreadsheets detailing more than $13 million in payments in the summer of 2006 for military equipment, including anti-aircraft guns and 100 tons of high explosives, court papers say. His passport showed more than 100 trips in the past five years to countries such as China, Kenya and even Sri Lanka.

Authorities are also investigating a Wall Street financier suspected of donating millions of dollars to the rebels. He is identified only as "Individual B" in court papers and has not been arrested.

The Tigers' success in arming a 10,000-strong force has come into sharp focus in the past year with the resumption of full-scale civil war in Sri Lanka. Experts on terrorist financing say the Tigers' network has thrived even after the al-Qaida attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"After 9/11, the know-your-client principle was supposed to be integrated into the financial markets and into pretty much every business," said Shanaka Jayasekra, a terrorism expert at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. The Tigers are "showing what can be done to exploit the holes in this system."

Sri Lanka has stepped up its efforts to cut off rebel supply lines. Its navy has sunk seven insurgent ships in the last year, and several suspected Tiger operatives in the United States, Europe and Australia have been arrested. And on Friday, its air force bombed a rebel facility and killed five people, including a top rebel leader.

But Sri Lanka's resources are limited, as is the interest of the West.

"If we find (Tiger operatives) breaking the law, of course we'll go after them," said one Western diplomat, who spoke anonymously to avoid upsetting Sri Lankan officials. "But we're not running around hunting for these guys."

Even Islamic groups with ties to al-Qaida — such as Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, blamed for killing more than 300 Indians in bombings over the past two years — fly largely below the radar of the West, noted Peter Chalk of the Rand Corp., a U.S. think tank.

"No one is paying a bloody bit of attention to any other group" apart from al-Qaida, especially one like the Tigers, whose fight is in a relatively poor country, said Chalk. These often ignored groups "pose real threats."

The Tigers' network mirrors the sophistication of the mini-state they've built in northern Sri Lanka. There, they levy sales taxes — 10 percent on building materials, 7.5 percent on car parts, 20 percent on cigarettes — to support their own courts, traffic police and military, a cult-like force whose fighters don't drink or smoke, wait until their mid-20s to marry and carry cyanide pills to swallow if they are captured.

The Tigers have set up front companies in more than a dozen countries, legitimately selling everything from dried fish in Thailand to mobile phones in Toronto. The Tigers give seed money to the businesses in return for profits. They also use their small fleet of ships to haul lawful cargo for paying clients.

But the bulk of their money comes from the Tamil diaspora, which stands at between 600,000 and 800,000 people, many of whom fled the war and often-violent persecution by Sri Lanka's Sinhalese majority. They run the socio-economic gamut from doctors and bankers in upscale New Jersey suburbs to construction workers and cab drivers in London's gritty immigrant neighborhoods.

Some donate willingly. "Others have to be convinced," said a former Tiger who worked in London as a fundraiser.

The preferred method of persuasion, he said, is threats aimed either directly at the unwilling donor or at family members back in Sri Lanka, which is "always the easiest because they knew we were the law at home."

If threats fail — "very rare" — then "maybe we would beat him. Or if he had a shop, we could smash it."

The former Tiger, who would not discuss why he left the group, spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared retribution and because it is a crime to raise money for a terror group in Britain. Reports from activists such as Human Rights Watch detail dozens of such cases in London and Toronto.

The Tigers find fundraisers who have never actually fought in Sri Lanka so they won't be on any watch lists. The former Tiger said the money was deposited in bank accounts under his own name at Natwest, and then transferred to an HSBC account, also in London. Where it went from there, he couldn't say.

It's a safe bet, though, that at least some of it ended up with KP and his team.

KP is, said one Western diplomat, "like something out of a James Bond movie." He emerged as the chief weapons supplier of the Tigers in the late 1980s, after India withdrew its clandestine support. He has surfaced as far afield as Vietnam and South Africa and has had bank accounts in London, Singapore, Frankfurt and Bangkok.

He is now believed to live in Thailand, where he owns at least one company and a boatyard and is married to a Thai woman, Sri Lankan officials say.

In the early days, KP picked up weapons wherever he could — Afghanistan, the tribal areas of Pakistan, Cambodia, the weapons bazaars of the former Soviet Union. But by the mid-1990s, KP's team was arranging for 70,000 mortar shells bought by the Sri Lankan government from Zimbabwe Defense Industries to be diverted to the Tigers by allegedly bribing an Israeli subcontractor.

It was about this time that KP began using forged or illegally obtained documents to buy weapons — a strategy shown in purchases from China North Industries Corp., known as Norinco, a state-run company.

According to former and current Sri Lankan intelligence officials, Norinco sold the Tigers two consignments of assault rifles, light artillery, rockets and ammunition, each large enough to fill a 230-foot cargo ship. The purchases were arranged through a middleman as part of a larger order certified with North Korean documents, presumably obtained through bribery, the officials said. The consignments were loaded onto rebel-owned ships in September 2003 and October 2004 in Tianjin, China.

The weapons are then believed to have gone to a supply point along the Indian Ocean coast of either Thailand or Indonesia, and been loaded into smaller ships and then even smaller fishing boats to make it past Sri Lanka's navy into rebel territory.

Senior Chinese officials were first warned of the purchases in July 2006, said a former Sri Lankan official who helped prepare a dossier laying out evidence for them. But a third order remained on track for delivery in spring 2007 until Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa personally appealed to Chinese leaders in Beijing in February, the official said.

Two officials said the Chinese, who were described as extremely apologetic, have launched an investigation into the sales. At Norinco's parent company, China North Industries Group Corp., the director of the information office refused to comment.

"We are not authorized to answer such very sensitive questions," the director, who gave his name as Jiang, said before hanging up.

In the last two years, KP is also thought to have arranged for arms from Bulgaria and North Korea, Sri Lankan officials say. So when news broke in early September that he had been caught in Thailand, the Sri Lankans were ecstatic. "It's almost too good to be true," gushed a senior official.

But Thailand — where KP is widely believed to have ties to senior officials — hastily denied the arrest. And within days, Sri Lankan officials glumly acknowledged he had again disappeared.

- Associated Press

[sriracha john]

UPDATE...

Interpol casts worldwide net for Kumaran Padmanathan

Colombo, 27 May: Interpol has intensified the search for the arrest of Kumaran Padmanathan, better known as KP, the International Leader and arms procurer of the LTTE.

The search for him has been broadened in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Canada, and Thailand where he is supposed to be present from time to time. KP for whom there is a warrant for arrest has been dodging Interpol for a long time is said to have an Eritrean passport.

Both India and Sri Lanka have expressed concern to Interpol to nab him, said a high ranking Police official in Colombo.

His name has surfaced as the logistic mastermind with regard to the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India.

It is reliably believed that KP who was reportedly arrested in Thailand last year was freed after he paid tones of money as bribe to Thai police and Generals.

Thai intelligence agencies were quoted as saying that during his interrogation, Padmanathan revealed the names of several conspirators involved in Gandhi's assassination.

KP who is the LTTE's chief for cross-border terrorist activities, also gave information about the money routes, procurement of arms and its deployment, and "tons of other data", to Thai Police.

The entire details of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination revealed by Padmanathan is said to be available with US intelligence agencies, which are said to have exercised a lot of influence over Thailand's military regime.

After the recent killing of Prabhakaran, KP is considered the de facto leader of the LTTE by the entire Tamil diaspora in the west, who still cherish dreams of the establishment of a greater separate state for the Tamils, confederating Northern Sri Lanka and India’s Southern state of Tamil Nadu.

- Asian Tribune / 2009-05-27

[PastEgo]

do they call him kp because he is nuts

just a thought

[Thaddeus]

It is reliably believed that KP who was reportedly arrested in Thailand last year was freed after he paid tones of money as bribe to Thai police and Generals.

Oopsy daisy.

Budget cuts this year as well, can he do it again.

[sriracha john]

The newest SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE –INTERPOL FUGITIVE Kumaran Pathmanathan alias Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias KP OF LTTE

KP is the brain behind all LTTE international illegal activities as mentioned above and a fugitive wanted by Interpol. He was once arrested by Thailand Police (known to be married to a Thai woman) but as

http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2009/06...u-thana-allanu/

Edited June 10, 2009 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

UPDATE... new reports of his arrest...

Tamil Tiger 'leader' arrested in Thailand

(CNN) -- A leader of the defeated Tamil Tiger rebel group has been arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, state television in Sri Lanka reported Thursday.

Selvarasa Padmanathan, also known as KP, was the "self-appointed ... leader and chief arms dealer" of the Tamil Tigers, according to Lankapuvath, the national news agency of Sri Lanka. It also reported the arrest, citing the Sri Lankan government information department.

The Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers this year. The rebel group is formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. It fought a 25-year war seeking an independent state for minority Tamils in Sri Lanka. At least 70,000 were killed.

Remnants of the battered Tamil Tiger group decided in July that Padmanathan would "lead us into the next steps of our freedom struggle," according to a published account.

That happened after the Sri Lankan military killed the group's long-time leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, in the final days of a bloody offensive that ended the war.

-- CNN 2009-08-06

[emancipationthailand]

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.

Totally agree, but still wondering what make Thailand more favorable than other third world countries?

BTW, you'll be surprise to learn about the money flowing in and out of the country.

Also, some people may find this strange, but for me, i always heard that the current regime over Sri Lanka is one of the most suppressive and abusive ones?

Edited August 7, 2009 by emancipationthailand

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Sri Lanka is famous for their tea, and now it looks like they are good for tea money also.

It is reliably believed that KP who was reportedly arrested in Thailand last year was freed after he paid tones of money as bribe to Thai police and Generals.

Would you like a passport with that pardon?

[MJo]

Lets see if he still has the money to get himself free...