The Sri Lankan government proscribes the LTTE as a terrorist organisation on the basis that it has been holding civilians to be used as human shields.
The LTTE is either a banned organisation or under the watch list in 32 countries including India, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union. The latest ban was reimposed after it had been lifted in September 2002, a precondition of the Tigers for its participation in the peace talks. The LTTE was first proscribed in 1978 by President J.R. Jayawardene, who passed the ‘Proscription of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and Other Similar Organisations Ordinance’, banning all Tamil militant groups.
Sources
Sri Lankan government proscribes LTTE, The Hindu, 8 January 2009; Sri Lanka re-imposes ban on Tamil Tigers, National Post, 7 January 2009; Jain Commission Report, published in India Today, August 1997.
Quotations
“By banning the LTTE worldwide, the LTTE would not only be isolated but could be prevented in carrying out all its terror activities. The world should join together to eradicate terrorism from the world,” Foreign Affairs Minister Rohitha Bogollagama.
Related events
22 May 1978
26 January 1998
28 February 2001
4 September 2002
10 April 2006
29 May 2006
http://pact.lk/22-november-2007/[/intlink]
