Canadian pair get 25 years in U.S. Tamil case

Terror trial; Attempted to buy heat-seeking missiles for LTTE

Two Canadians were sentenced to 25 years in prison yesterday for attempting to buy heat-seeking missiles and military assault rifles for Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers rebels. Thiruthanikan Thanigasalam and Sahilal Sabaratnam were sentenced in U.S. District Court in New York, where they were caught in 2006 trying to buy Russian SA-18 missiles and AK-47s. They pleaded guilty last January. The missiles were to be used to shoot down Sri Lankan military aircraft that were then bombing the rebels' enclave. The plot was directed by the senior leadership of the Tamil Tigers. Thanigasalam, 41, was the "big guy" of the Toronto-based arms procurement operation. He met personally with the rebels in Sri Lanka to secure their approval for the purchases. Sabaratnam, 30, a former associate at TD Waterhouse in Toronto, was the group's financial expert and helped arranged for the $1-million payment for the illicit weapons. A third Canadian, Satha Sarachandran, 30, the group's administrator, was sentenced to 26 years on Friday, while Nadarasa Yogarasa, a Sri Lankan living in the United States, got 14 years.

The convictions were the result of a joint FBI-RCMP counter-terrorism operation called Project ONeedle, which investigated a group of Tamil Tigers supporters who shopped for equipment for the rebels.

Another Canadian, Ramanan Mylvaganam, is in custody in Brooklyn awaiting trial. Two more Canadians, Piratheepan Nadarajah and "Waterloo" Suresh Sriskandarajah, are still awaiting extradition to the United States. U.S. prosecutors filed a new indictment against Mr. Mylvaganam and Mr. Sriskandarajah on Dec. 28, alleging they had conspired to provide weapons to the Tamil Tigers.

The two men sentenced on Monday were brothers-in-law from Toronto. Both had immigrated to Canada from Sri Lanka during the war between government forces and the Tamil rebels. Neither had been arrested before.

"Although the charges against him are very serious and are things that I myself do not condone, I know that Sahilal is an extraordinarily kind and gentle man with some sort of lapse in judgment," read one of the 38 letters sent to the judge by family and friends.

"He was a good role model to the young children," read another letter. "I continue to hold Sahil in high character. His actions do not measure up to his outstanding character."

The Canadian missile plot was orchestrated by Tamil Tigers intelligence chief Pottu "Mama" Amman. Amman was killed last May when the Sri Lankan government forces overran the rebels, ending the 26-year separatist war.

The two key figures that oversaw the defeat of the rebels, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the former Army Commander, General Sarath Fonseka, are running against each other in presidential elections today.

sbell@nationalpost.com