The Sri Lankan Government on Tuesday banned 16 groups operating overseas over their alleged links with terrorism, the Ministry of Defence said.

 

Defence Ministry and military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said that the ban was enforced under a UN Security Council resolution 1373 which was implemented following the September 2001 terrorist attack in the United States.

 

He said that apart from the Tamil Tiger rebels, the government has listed 15 other groups operating overseas who are keen on having a separate in Sri Lanka.

 

Among those listed are the Global Tamil Forum, the British Tamils Forum and the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, two influential Tamil Diaspora groups operating in Britain and the United States. “Under the ban legal action will be taken against anyone having links with those groups,” he said.

 

The ban also lists four influential Tamil Diaspora activists, Perinbanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyavan, Reverend Father S.J Emmanuel, Visuvanathan Ruthirakumaran and Sekarampillai Vinayakamoorthy.

 

The move comes after most of these groups had been successful in their heavily funded campaigns to convince foreign countries to back a US-sponsored resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last week.

 

The UN Human Rights Council was meanwhile informed by the Sri Lankan government that the Tamil Tigers were regrouping in the North of Sri Lanka following the end of the a 30 year war with the defeat of the rebels in May 2009. (Xinhua)

List of groups banned by Sri Lanka

01. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam a.k.a LTTE

02. Tamil Rehabilitation Organization a.k.a TRO

03. Tamil Coordinating Committee a.k.a TCC

04. British Tamil Forum a.k.a BTF

05. World Tamil Movement a.k.a WTM

06. Canadian Tamil Congress a.k.a CTC

07. Australian Tamil Congress a.k.a ATC

08. Global Tamil Forum a.k.a GTF

09. National Council Of Canadian Tamils a.k.a NCCT

10. Tamil National Council a.k.a TNC

11.Tamil Youth Organization a.k.a TYO

12. World Tamil Coordinating Committee a.k.a WTCC.

13. Transnational Government Of Tamil Eelam a.k.a TGTE

14. Tamil Eelam Peoples Assembly a.k.a TEPA

15 .World Tamil Relief Fund a.k.a WTRF

 

16. Headquarters Group a.k.a HQ Group