Four Tamil gang members convicted for the murder of a Tamil youth

Four Tamil gang members were convicted for the murder of another Tamil youth by stabbing him 31 times on a London street in the most insensate manner and the Old Bailey said they will be sentenced July 7.The convicted Tamil gang membersThe convicted Tamil gang members

The police said violent Sri Lankan Tamil gangs in South London area, where illegal fund raising activities of the liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are quite rampant are "constantly tooled up" and "ready to go", for such crimes.

“There have been a number of violent clashes involving groups involving Tamil men in Croydon and other parts of south London in recent years”, said a local newspaper Wandsworth Borough News.

“They culminated in the murder of 28-year-old Prabaskaran Kannan in Tooting last year. He was chased by a group of four men from Croydon who stabbed and slashed their terrified victim 31 times outside a fried chicken takeaway shop”, the newspaper reported.

The crime incident came to be known as ‘Chicken Cottage Tamil Murder’ after the name of the take away restaurant.

The chief detective in the case said Croydon's Tamil gangs were causing concern among officers.

Detective Sergeant Mick Snowdon spoke out about the problems surrounding Tamil gangs after five men were convicted for Kannan's murder at the Old Bailey in London.

Witnesses said in the courts that Kannan was heard shouting "It wasn't me, it wasn't me" shortly before he was brutally set upon and killed by the four Tamil gang members.

Last week, Vabeesan Sivarajah, 22, Aziz Miah, 20, of Sumner Road, Croydon, Asif Kumbay, 20, of Grasmere Road, Purley, and Kirush Nathankumar, 18, of Purley Way, Croydon, were all convicted of murder by an Old Bailey jury. They all denied the charges.

“The young men burst into tears after the sentence was announced. A jury of nine men and three women took three days to reach their verdict”, reported the local newspaper.

“The four were also convicted of causing grievous bodily harm and actual bodily harm to two gang members who were with Kannan that night.

“Another defendant, Mayuran Srivinayagam of Greyhound Terrace, Streatham, was cleared of murder and manslaughter but was found guilty of assault.

“Earlier in the trial a sixth gang member, Mahitharn Ratnasingham, of Lesley Grove, Croydon was cleared of murder and manslaughter. He admitted assault. The men are due to be sentenced on July 7.

“After the men were convicted Det Sgt Snowdon told the Croydon Guardian: "They the gangs are very violent. They are constantly tooled up and ready to go. It is almost like the level of violence is ad hoc. Whatever happens for them happens, and it depends on what weapons they have around."

Quoting a businessman who runs a shop in Croydon the newspaper said Sri Lankan Tamil gangs controlled most of the crime and had the town centre on "lockdown."

Police have always in the past denied there was a problem with the gangs in Croydon, but have now admitted there was a specialist officer dealing with Tamil gang activity in the borough.

A member of a gang who did not want to be named said: "These guys are tough man, they do not care who they hurt or who gets in their way. They ride around in flash cars tooled-up with knives, swords, bats and whatever else they can grab to do damage to a guy."

11 terrorits killed - Mannar

Troops operating on the Mannar front attacked 3 LTTE bunkers at two separate incidents this morning (June 16) and claimed 11 terrorists were killed and at least 2 others wounded.

In the general area Southwest of Periyamadhu, troops attacked and destroyed an LTTE bunker around 9.15 am. Ground troops claimed that 6 terrorists were killed in this incident. Troops suffered no casualties.

Separately, troops attacked 2 LTTE bunkers located in the Mullikkandal area around 9.45 am. Both ground troops and monitored radio transmissions confirmed that 5 terrorists were killed in this incident. Also, 2 soldiers were killed and another suffered injuries. The injured was directed to immediate medical attention.

12 Police personnel killed

LTTE terrorists have carried out another suicide bomb attack targeting police personnel near the SSP (Senior Superintendent of Police) office complex in Vavuniya this morning, June 16.
According to initial reports received from Vavuniya, the explosion has occurred around 7.10 a.m., targeting the Police personnel leaving the SSP office for their duties.

Serbia stops Tiger transmission to Europe, Africa and Middle East

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), ran into another hurdle in propaganda drive. The LTTE official radio Voice of Tigers (VoT), which started transmissions on 1st June 2008 from Serbia has ceased its transmissions on June 09, 2008. According to reliable sources, the government of Serbia has terminated the broadcast license granted to VoT to retransmit to Europe, North Africa and Middle East via Serbian satellite, when the authorities came to know that VoT was the official broadcast organ of a banned terrorist outfit.
It is reported that several influential contacts have helped the LTTE to obtain the transmission license for broadcast of Tamil FM Radio through Serbian satellite. However, the Serbian authorities were not aware of the true nature of the contents of VOT and the moment they realized the connection between the VoT and the LTTE, the transmission was terminated.
Previously the VoT as well as the LTTE's television service, the National Tamil Television (NTT) used the US based INTELSAT 12 for radio and television transmissions. INTELSAT 12 terminated the transmissions when pointed out that the LTTE was a listed terrorist organization in the US and the VoT and NTT are the publicity organs of the terrorist movement.
Although LTTE recommenced NTT transmissions through Hong Kong based AsiaSat, using a third party to obtain a satellite loops, it was also ceased thanks to the timely revelation of the true nature of broadcast material.
Last month, the LTTE, though influential contacts in Middle East, obtained the services of EU TELSAT in Serbia for the transmission of a newly set up radio station named Tamil FM Radio. However, within few days it came to know that the Tamil FM Radio is nothing but the VoT, the official broadcast station of the LTTE. When the Serbian authorities realized that the transmission was promoting terrorism, the agreement was reported to have terminated ceasing the radio broadcast.
As the LTTE television and radio transmissions have run into rough weather in USA, France, Italy, Hong Kong, Singapore and finally Serbia, the analyst wonder, what would be the next destination of VoT/NTT. The nations in the frontline in the global was against terrorism should be vigilant on this issue and top international researchers are of the view that a timely requirement is an international regulations to prevent terrorist organizations from using radio and television waves for propaganda.

Somawansa pleads for GSP+

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe has pleaded for the European Union’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP+) trade scheme benefit during a tour he made to the United Kingdom last week, urging Britain to intervene on Sri Lanka’s behalf.

JVP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath told The News-Lanka that during the meeting Amarasinghe had with British Labour MP Andrew Love, who also heads the Sri Lanka Committee of the British Parliament, the JVP Leader had emphasised that if the EU were to curtail the GSP+ benefit, it would not only impact the government but also affect the people outright, especially the thousands employed in the garment industry.

Amarasinghe had urged the British Parliamentarian to intervene on Sri Lanka’s behalf and ensure that the GSP+ benefit was given to Sri Lanka, to which Love had responded that although their role was very limited, the Sri Lanka Government could do “much more” to ensure that the benefit is enjoyed by the island nation.The JVP Leader’s plea comes just weeks after UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe undertook a mission to the EU, where he held high-level discussions with senior officials, urging them to renew the GSP+ concession to Sri Lanka once it expires later this year.

Cold war hits Ranil

With a fresh coup attempt distressing United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, the seemingly nervous UNP Leader was seeing attempting to lure party members and also approaching rebel MPs who had defected to the government, promising them plum positions if they sided with him, The Nation reliably learns.Highly-placed sources, who spoke on the condition of strict anonymity, claimed that over the past week, Wickremesinghe had been having one-to-one meetings with UNP Parliamentarians to test the waters – amidst secret closed door meetings being held elsewhere, where moves to overthrow Wickremesinghe had been discussed at length.

“Some 30 to 35 members are in support of the overthrow moves, but no one is showing their support in the open for obvious reasons,” the sources said. It is learnt that apart from Wickremesinghe and his close associates, even members of the government are trying to identify those who were heading the attempts in a bid to buy them over, but the adamant UNPers are insistent that they only want a leadership change, not a party change.The majority of the members who are fighting for the change have cited Wickremesinghe’s failure to take collective decisions as the main reason for the change, with the other reason being their loss of faith in his leadership.