Two Australian men of Sri Lankan origin have been arrested in Melbourne on Tuesday for raising money for Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels and also using 2004 Asian tsunami relief funds for terrorist activities, police said.
Aruran Vinayaganoorthy, 32, and Sivarajah Yathavan, 36, from the southern city of Melbourne were to appear in court later Tuesday to face three “terrorism-related“ offences, which carry a maximum penalty of 25 years in jail. The two were charged with being a member of a terrorist organization (probably the LTTE), with providing support to a terrorist group and with deliberately making funds available to a terrorist organization.
There is no evidence that these two men were planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Australia. It will be alleged in court that these men are members of an organization engaging in terrorist activity overseas and they have been providing active, material support to that group. We would be alleging that tsunami relief appeals were used as a vehicle for some of the fund-raising,
Frank Prendergast, a senior counter-terrorism officer with the Australian Federal Police, said in a statement.
The Tigers are fighting for a separate Tamil land in Sri Lanka for a long time and have been carrying out attacks in that effect. The incessant conflict has killed at least 69,000 people.
Though Australia, a staunch U.S. supporter, has never suffered a major assault on its soil, but 9/11 changed the face of terrorism for all and sundry. In a bid to combat any such attack in future and to control terror activities globally, the arrest of these two men is a step forward in this regard.
Another nine men face similar terrorism charges in Melbourne. The police say they have recovered large quantities of chemicals and electronic timers from these men which could be used to build explosive devices capable of killing and causing enormous damage.
Terrorism has to be fought together. It is high time the world takes a strong step forward in this regard because terrorism on one land may perpetuate and spread its tentacles globally in no time.
via:YAHOO
