08-25-2003, 07:40 PM
<span style='font-size:25pt;line-height:100%'>LTTE Member To Contest Elections in Oslo </span>
Bandula Jayasekara in Colombo, SLT 7.00 A.M Monday 25 August. Mr.Balasingham, known as Baskaran, a LTTE leader in Norway has obtained nomination from the Labour party in Norway to contest the Municipal Council elections in Oslo, which is to be held shortly. Balasingham has been aggressively campaigning among the Tamils and is actively supported by the Norwegians dealing with Sri Lankan issue. Political observers and the Norwegian Progressive Party question as to how a member of a listed terrorist organization in USA, Britain, Canada, Australia and India could stand as a Labour party candidate in Norway which is playing the role of facilitator in the Sri Lankan peace process.
The Norwegian support for the LTTE's candidacy is said to have been prompted by the fact that the previous two Sri Lankans representations in Municipal Council were Dr Amara Ranaweera a Sinhalese and Mubarak Ali a Muslim. Moderate Tamils in Norway are also surprised that a die hard, unqualified LTTE member who had entered Norway illegally has been selected over many potential conservative Tamil professionals. An office bearer of a Sinhalese Association in Norway when contacted said, "We have no objections to any Tamil contesting any election in Norway. But when a known LTTE member is selected specially by the Labour party, one wonders if LTTE has already been recognized by the Norwegian Government, which could well be a signal of eventual recognition of Eelam. Erna Solberg, Norwegian Minister for Local Government and Regional Development told this correspondent last month in Oslo that funding of the LTTE at global level was not wrong and she also spoke of the moderate Tamils living in Norway. However, it is not known if Baskaran's nomination by the Labour Party has received Solbergs blessings.
The LTTE has a well entrenched network in Norway encompassing fund raising to arms deals, money laundering, narcotics trafficking in addition to usual false propaganda. Norway is also considered to be LTTE's European headquarters particularly after crackdown of LTTE activities in London and Paris. It is known that Norwegian authorities turn a blind eye to LTTE nefarious activities, which could eventually have an adverse effect on the Norwegian society. Even the Police chief of Norway has recently revealed correlation between rising criminal activities with the liberal attitudes towards so called asylum seekers in Norway.
Bandula Jayasekara in Colombo, SLT 7.00 A.M Monday 25 August. Mr.Balasingham, known as Baskaran, a LTTE leader in Norway has obtained nomination from the Labour party in Norway to contest the Municipal Council elections in Oslo, which is to be held shortly. Balasingham has been aggressively campaigning among the Tamils and is actively supported by the Norwegians dealing with Sri Lankan issue. Political observers and the Norwegian Progressive Party question as to how a member of a listed terrorist organization in USA, Britain, Canada, Australia and India could stand as a Labour party candidate in Norway which is playing the role of facilitator in the Sri Lankan peace process.
The Norwegian support for the LTTE's candidacy is said to have been prompted by the fact that the previous two Sri Lankans representations in Municipal Council were Dr Amara Ranaweera a Sinhalese and Mubarak Ali a Muslim. Moderate Tamils in Norway are also surprised that a die hard, unqualified LTTE member who had entered Norway illegally has been selected over many potential conservative Tamil professionals. An office bearer of a Sinhalese Association in Norway when contacted said, "We have no objections to any Tamil contesting any election in Norway. But when a known LTTE member is selected specially by the Labour party, one wonders if LTTE has already been recognized by the Norwegian Government, which could well be a signal of eventual recognition of Eelam. Erna Solberg, Norwegian Minister for Local Government and Regional Development told this correspondent last month in Oslo that funding of the LTTE at global level was not wrong and she also spoke of the moderate Tamils living in Norway. However, it is not known if Baskaran's nomination by the Labour Party has received Solbergs blessings.
The LTTE has a well entrenched network in Norway encompassing fund raising to arms deals, money laundering, narcotics trafficking in addition to usual false propaganda. Norway is also considered to be LTTE's European headquarters particularly after crackdown of LTTE activities in London and Paris. It is known that Norwegian authorities turn a blind eye to LTTE nefarious activities, which could eventually have an adverse effect on the Norwegian society. Even the Police chief of Norway has recently revealed correlation between rising criminal activities with the liberal attitudes towards so called asylum seekers in Norway.