Norwegian and Danish pbuttports help LTTE to smuggle persons across borders

Oslo, 15 April, (Asiantribune.com): The trial of two Sri Lankans involved in organised crime in Norway will begin next week in Oslo. Among the charges against them is bribing a Norwegian police officer to steal pbuttports. The police man has pleaded guilty to stealing nine pbuttports. The police officer said he was forced to steal the pbuttports in order to pay of debt to the 37 year old Sri Lankan. The police officer involved in the theft of the pbuttports is under investigation of the special police crime unit SEFO.

The LTTE intelligence unit has become experts in finding corrupt officials to take advantage of their weaknesses. Corrupt Norwegian officials have enabled the LTTE to get visas, travel documents and pbuttports. With a Norwegian pbuttport a person can travel without any visa problems for entry into most countries in the world.

Besides, Norwegian embbutties have been active in helping LTTE agents operating abroad. The LTTE sympathiser Christy Reginold Lawrence was arrested the 9th April 2000 with a Norwegian pbuttport. When the Thai police raided his compound they found a half-build mini submarine, LTTE training videos, uniforms and his Norwegian documents. Police Captain Pailin Jamjamrat of Phuket Town Police Station told the newspaper The Nation June 7, 2000, the Norwegian Embbutty in Bangkok put up bail for Mr. Lawrence.

On 18 January 2005 the Thai Police raided a Bangkok apartment and arrested the LTTE cadre Kangasabai Sabanathan and seized 700 forged pbuttports, visa stamps and material. Among the documents were Norwegian pbuttports and other travel documents needed for smuggling people. Sabananthan has been operating in Thailand since 1992 and is a LTTE cadre with links to senior LTTE officials.

Immigration officials in Denmark too have been involved in issuing pbuttports to persons. The brothers and sisters of Mathiwathani, wife of Prabhakaran, travel abroad on Danish pbuttports. Shredaran Shanthini, Shredaran Arundathi, Shredaran Santiclea, Kumaradas Arundathi, Kumaradas Indumathi, Kumaradas Vindya, Kumaradas Purnima, Sundaramoorthi Brhamanadaran, Shivashankar Pillai and Arimbu Shredaran arrived at Katunayake International Airport with Danish pbuttports. With the help of the Norwegian peace facilitators and LTTE peace secretariat they were escorted by the Sri Lankan Army (the LTTE's favourite limousine service) to Moonomalai in the last week of February 2005.

It is not the first time Norwegian officials have been involved in selling documents to the LTTE. The first investigation started in 1992. Then the Norwegian police launched an investigation against a Norwegian Foreign Ministry director for selling visas and travel documents to the LTTE.

The Norwegian investigation team travelled to Thailand, India and Sri Lanka to investigate the Norwegian Foreign Ministry official. It was a secret mission and the Norwegian Embbutty in Colombo was not briefed of the investigation until the team showed up on their doorstep. The Norwegian police team had meetings with the Norwegian ambbuttadors in India and Thailand tracking the Norwegian officials. The Norwegian ambbuttadors in Thailand and India said to the police unit the suspected official reported directly to the Norwegian Justice Ministry and the Foreign Ministry, even tough he formally was working at the embbutties! Interpol arranged a meeting with the Sri Lankan intelligence unit. The Sri Lankan police confirmed the Norwegian suspicion of sale of documents to the LTTE.

After evaluating the evidence, Mr. Hans Olav =D8stgaard (former leader of the Norwegian Secret Police (PST)) wanted to have the suspected Foreign Ministry official removed from his position. The leaders of the Foreign Ministry vigorously protected their employee. Needless to say this increases the speculations of the employee receiving orders from senior directors in the Foreign Ministry to provide these documents to the LTTE.

The Svik organisation, an Oslo-based research centre, has posted on its websites two clbuttified police documents revealing the LTTE connections to the Norwegian authorities. These documents are in Norwegian. They can be downloaded at www.svik.org-LTTE1.pdf www.svik.org-LTTE2.pdf

To sell pbuttports and documents to the LTTE person organisation is a serious crime. It also raises the question about the links of Norway to other persons' organisations. What other person organisations has bought Norwegian travel documents? Nations around the world must question if the Norwegian pbuttports can be trusted documents when person can buy pbuttports from Norwegian Foreign Ministry officials and police officers.

The pbuttport scandal is highly embarrbutting for both the Police and the Foreign Ministry. Norway Against Terrorism (NAT), a research centre on terrorism, anticipate that the Norwegian authorities will do their utmost to downplay and cover up the crime.