SL gears up to arrest Rudrakumaran

War criminal state of Sri Lanka seeks the arrest of Tamil political leader Viswanathan Rudrakumaran.

The Sri Lankan government says it is ready to share intelligence and evidence with US authorities, if the need arises, in order to secure the arrest of senior LTTE activist V. Rudrakumaran who is believed to be operating from the US.

Government Defence spokesman Minister Keheliya Rumbukwalla said the government hopes to gather evidence on the links between Rudrakumaran and the Tigers through the ongoing interrogation of Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP) in order secure his arrest.

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake, speaking to reporters in Colombo yesterday, said that Rudrakumaran could not be arrested as he had not committed any crimes on US soil.

When asked to respond to the US position on Rudrakumaran, Minister Rumbukwalla told Daily Mirror online Sri Lanka is hopeful that with sufficient evidence the LTTE activist can be arrested in the United States.

The Minister said that the US authorities had previously arrested and prosecuted LTTE personnel after gathering sufficient evidence against them.

“Maybe with enough evidence we can convince the US authorities to arrest Rudrakumaran. This matter involves the legal systems of both countries and thus it is not simple,” he said.

Following its military defeat the LTTE formed a team under US-based LTTE legal adviser Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran to work on the formation of a Provisional Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam.

Rudrakumaran, the son of former Jaffna Mayor Viswanathan, has been closely involved with the LTTE and has represented the outfit in several peace talks with the Government of Sri Lanka.

With the arrest of Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP) the next most senior LTTE activist is believed to be Rudrakumaran who had recently announced that an election with the participation of the Tamil Diaspora will be held next year to form the Transnational Government.


Courtesy:
Daily mirror