Top U.S. Tamil Tiger is arrested
Prosecutors say Karunakaran Kandasamy is the main U.S. representative of the insurgent group, responsible for raising money and supplying arms.
They say he raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Tigers.
If convicted, Kandasamy faces up to 15 years in prison and the possibility of deportation. --------------------------------- War of terror
"The arrest is the latest in ongoing investigation of (the) terrorist group's reliance on individuals in the U.S. as a major source for money, arms, and military technology," a statement issued by the U.S. embassy in Colombo said.
It said that Karunakaran Kandasamy, also known as Karuna, is the main U.S. representative of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and was charged on Wednesday in Queens, New York.
It said the LTTE -- designated since 1997 as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department -- has covertly operated within the U.S. "to further its war of terror in Sri Lanka and elsewhere".
"We refuse to allow this to continue," the statement quoted U.S. attorney Roslynn R Mauskopf as saying.
Lawyers for the accused man have vigorously protested his innocence.
"They're fighting for freedom in their own country and they're coming to the United States much like the IRA did raising money here for years.
"I don't remember people being prosecuted for that," Kandasamy's attorney, Charles Hochbaum, said. ------------------------------- Suicide bombings
Hochbaum would not say whether or not Kandasamy had raised any money for the Tamil Tigers.
But court papers say that he raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in his capacity as director of the American branch of the Tamil Tigers based in New York City.
He also allegedly arranged for rebel leaders in Sri Lanka to meet U.S. supporters "with backgrounds in engineering, technology, weaponry, medicine and scientific fields".
Correspondents say that Kandasamy's arrest is the latest attempt by U.S. authorities to cut off support for the group, which according to court papers has engaged "in terrorist tactics, including suicide bombings and political assassinations".
The Tamil Tigers are fighting for an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils in the island nation's north and east.
Last year, at least five Tamil Tiger sympathizers were charged in New York with conspiring to buy surface-to-air missiles, and 11 others were charged with "material support" for the rebel group.
Tamil Tiger sympathizers have also been arrested over the last year in Indonesia and France.
Prosecutors allege the rebel group even tried to bribe U.S. officials to remove the group from the U.S. terrorism list. ------------- Propaganda
FBI investigator Mark J Mershon said that Kandasamy "hasn't merely supported the Tamil Tigers' cause, he orchestrated U.S. support".
"We can no sooner allow terrorists to raise funds here than we would allow them to carry out acts of terrorism here," Mershon was quoted as saying.
According to court papers, the rebels rely on sympathetic Tamil expatriates residing in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Australia, France, and several other countries to raise and launder money, smuggle arms, explosives, equipment and technology into LTTE-controlled territory.
The papers say that the rebels obtain intelligence about the Sri Lankan government and spread propaganda.
The Tigers control large parts of Sri Lanka's embattled north where they run a de facto separate state.
More than 60,000 people have been killed Sri Lanka's protracted civil war.