Stamps with Tiger markings are not official, says French embassy
January 3, 2012 01:39 pm
Responding to recent media reports stating that several stamps bearing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s (LTTE) slain leader V. Prabhakaran and the Tiger emblem have been issued in France, the French embassy says that no such stamps are part of its official philatelist programme.
A statement issued by the Embassy of France in Sri Lanka with regard to the stamps states:
Following reports published in different newspapers regarding the issue in France of stamps bearing pictures and symbols of the LTTE, the Embassy of France in Sri Lanka wishes to inform the media and the Sri Lankan public that no such stamp is part of the official philatelist programme of France, neither on sale in the French post offices.
The French Postal services, ‘La Poste’ offers an online service through which customers can order limited quantities of personalized stamps under their responsibility and under specific conditions. It appears that individuals have used this service to order the above mentioned stamps.
‘La Poste’ recognized that they failed to detect that the conditions had not been met and that some of these stamps have been printed by mistake.
Having been informed by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the LTTE is a movement which has been listed since 2006 as a terrorist organization by the European Union, ‘La Poste’ assures that no such stamp will be printed further.
Since 1991, le ‘Groupe La Poste’, of which the French postal services are a part, is an independent public, industrial and commercial institution.
