EU To List Tamil Tigers As Terror Group-Diplomats

Reuters

May 18, 2006

BRUSSELS, May 17 (Reuters) - The European Union is set to list Sri Lankan rebel group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as a terrorist organisation, EU diplomats said on Wednesday.

The move will further isolate the group as Sri Lanka is sliding back into a low-intensity conflict some fear could spiral into resumption of a two-decade war.

The United States, Canada and Britain have already listed the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist group, and the EU imposed a travel ban on the group's cadres last September and said then it was considering banning it for "use of violence and terrorism".

"A decision in principle is due within the next couple of days," a diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity said.

A second EU diplomat said a decision was due by Friday. The move would then have to be rubber-stamped by the 25 member states of the bloc at a later date.

A ban on the Tamil Tigers in the EU would outlaw the group and its followers by shutting down premises and freezing assets belonging to it.

The Tigers are fighting for a separate state for ethnic Tamils in the north and east of the Indian Ocean island, and have pioneered the use of suicide bombing.

There has been an escalation of violence recently and April was one of the bloodiest months since a 2002 cease-fire halted a war that killed over 64,000 people since 1983.

Washington last week accused the group of violating the truce with an attack on a Sri Lankan navy transport ship carrying hundreds of servicemen.

The military said 17 sailors and 50 Tigers died in the attack that prompted air strikes on rebel territory.