Sri Lanka Tamil charity asset frozen by US for terror funding

Nov 15, 2007 (LBO) – The United States has frozen the assets of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) for raising funds and buying arms for the Tamil Tigers, which is a designated terrorist organization, the US embassy in Colombo said. "In the United States, the TRO has raised funds on behalf of the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] through a network of individual representatives," the embassy said in a statement.

"According to sources within the organization, the TRO is the preferred conduit of funds from the United States to the LTTE in Sri Lanka."

"The TRO also has facilitated LTTE procurement operations in the United States. Those operations included the purchase of munitions, equipment, communication devices, and other technology for the LTTE."

The United States said it would continue to support a just, negotiated political settlement to the conflict in Sri Lanka that meets the aspirations of all communities, including Sri Lanka's Tamils.

"The U.S. will continue to vigorously support efforts to stop human rights violations against Tamils, including abductions and threats against Tamil journalists."

The full statement is reproduced below :-

The U.S. Department of the Treasury today