Global Peace Support Group

 
counter-terrorism - Shanaka Jayasekara

By Shanika SRIYANANDA

Shanaka Jayasekara, a counter-terrorism expert based in Australia said netting the LTTE’s financial controller, who has access to all financial resources stashed away in secret bank accounts worldwide, by the Netherlands government was a huge success for Sri Lanka’s counter-terrorism activities internationally.

"He used the nom de guerre ‘Saana Chandran’ and operated from the Netherlands. He maintained a hub and spoke network which maintained LTTE financial assets in multiple locations. He could have been a serious threat if he aligned himself with any of the rump LTTE factions. I am hopeful that the Dutch authorities have got access to Saana Chandran’s database and will pursue all LTTE secret bank accounts", he said.

Jayasekara, who is an Associate Lecturer, Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism (PICT) of the Macquarie University in Sydney, was in the Netherlands three weeks ago and said the Sri Lankan government must recognise the admirable work undertaken by the Dutch intelligence unit, AIVD and the Dutch Police in preventing the outflow of LTTE financial assets.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: What was Nediyavan’s role in the post-war LTTE and was he attempting to revive the military wing of the LTTE?

A: The LTTE maintained an international branch network which was controlled by the international secretariat headed by Veerakathy Manivannam (a.k.a Castro) in Kilinochchi. It was Castro who appointed Perinpanayagam Sivaparan (a.k.a. Nediyavan) as the overseas coordinator based in Oslo.

After the LTTE was militarily defeated and the top tier leadership killed, there was a power vacuum. Many considered the sidelined Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP) to be the obvious choice, but Castro loyalists backed Nediyavan. This was further exacerbated with the Tamilnet clique supporting Nediyavan.

After the capture and extradition of KP from Malaysia, Nediyavan led one faction of the LTTE. It was the most organised and structured faction as it evolved out of the LTTE/TCC branch network worldwide. Nediyavan was definitely keen to revive a ground capability in Sri Lanka. He worked in collusion with Vinayakamoorthi Sekarapillai (a.k.a Vinayakam), an LTTE intelligence leader suspected to be in Belgium.

There were many attempts by overseas members of the LTTE travelling to Sri Lanka to establish a ground capability. In one case, instructions were received from Malaysia to an individual in Mannar. In another case, an LTTE activist working for GTV in the UK travelled to Sri Lanka to rebuild a military capability. The Sri Lankan intelligence has been very effective in disrupting these plans.

Q: What is Nediyavan’s background?

A: Nediyavan is a trained LTTE combatant. His claim to fame is that he married Sivagowri, daughter of Ranjan Lala a long-standing confidante of Prabhakaran. As a result of his marital connections he was included as a member of the LTTE peace team for the fourth round of talks in Nakhom Pathom in Thailand. Thereafter, his privileged connections secured a plum job as overseas coordinator of the LTTE branch network based in Oslo, Norway.

Q:How will his arrest by the Norwegian police affect the LTTE’s international network?

A: In fact, there is some misunderstanding here, Nediyavan was not arrested by the Norwegian Police. The Dutch investigation judge at the District Court in the Hague was conducting a magisterial investigation into the arrest of five suspected LTTE members in the Netherlands for fund-raising and supporting a terrorist group. One of the persons arrested in the Netherlands is the ‘Financial Controller’ of all LTTE assets worldwide.

The financial controller who operated from the Netherlands had access to all LTTE financial resources stashed away in secret bank accounts worldwide. It is believed as part of this investigation into the financial backbone of the LTTE, the Dutch investigation judge requested from the Norwegian authorities to question Nediyavan.

Financial assets

Q: How did the LTTE ‘Financial Controller’ operate in the Netherlands?

A: This individual used the nom de guerre ‘Saana Chandran’ and operated from the Netherlands. He maintained a hub and spoke network which maintained LTTE financial assets in multiple locations. Saana Chandran as the ‘financial controller’ had insights into all these individual accounts. I refer to Saana Chandran’s operation in my research paper ‘Fund-raising and Money Transfer Operations’ published in October 2007. As and when the LTTE required funds for weapons purchases, Saana Chandran would consolidate finances from multiple accounts and meet the payment requirement. He is the financial mastermind behind the LTTE weapons network.

Q: What impact will the arrest of Saana Chandran have on the future of the LTTE?

A: The LTTE is still an asset-rich organisation. While there are multiple account holders of LTTE assets worldwide, the hub and spoke network that Saana Chandran controlled ensured that it was compartmentalised.

The NRC newspaper on May 14 referred to the arrested man as S. Ramachandran from the town of Schagen in the Netherlands. Therefore, each account holder is only privy to a small part of the assets, however Saana Chandran as the financial controller had overall knowledge of all assets and their locations.

He could have been a serious threat if he aligned himself with any of the LTTE factions. I am hopeful that the Dutch authorities have got access to Saana Chandran’s database and will pursue all LTTE secret bank accounts. The Sri Lankan Government must recognise the admirable work undertaken by the Dutch intelligence, AIVD and the Dutch Police in preventing the outflow of LTTE financial assets.