Tigers bought Japanese Coast Guard vessels

(by Shamindra Ferdinando)

The LTTE is believed to have acquired at least four utility vessels formerly of the Japanese Maritime Safety Agency/Coast Guard through an agency handling sale of used ships. Sources say ‘Blue Hawk’, ‘Magamai’, ‘Rakuy’ and ‘Expor’ had been used by the LTTE to move arms, ammunition and equipment from floating warehouses over many years in its war against Sri Lanka. The vessel destroyed on Sept. 17, 2006 about 120 nautical miles off Kalmunai on the East coast could be one of the 22 metre Japanese vessels, sources believe.

The LTTE is believed to have purchased as many as 30 ships of different categories since 198, the majority of them hfrom Japanese firms, though theJapanese government wasn’t aware of the transactions. Those who handled the purchases on behalf of the LTTE had acted as legitimate ship operators.

Ponnaih Anandarajah alias Iyanna, one-time KP’s second-in-command is widely believed to have handled the transactions. Anandarajah succeeded ‘KP’ during the Norwegian-arranged CFA, though the LTTE reinstated KP a few months before the collapse of the group in May last year. Anandarajah visited Vanni, where he met LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran during the CFA.

Sources said that Anandarajah’s whereabouts weren’t known. It is believed that Anandarajah could be working with one of the three Diaspora factions now engaged in a major propaganda campaign against the Sri Lankan government. Sources said he was having a substantial amount of funds at his disposal.

Of the LTTE ships numbering about 30, the Sri Lanka Navy sunk about a dozen vessels. India destroyed one and another was detained by another country. Even if a few vessels had been disposed of by the LTTE, about ten ships could have been engaged in legitimate business one and half years after the conclusion of the war, sources said.

(The Island)