(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
[terror] How to understand the Norwegian authorities' assessment of terrorist financing? This question has become relevant after the Police Security Service (PST) 28. February, three men arrested and detained three men in Oslo, on suspicion of financing the terror-stamped group Al-Shabab in Somalia. But the official Norway has in the past itself contributed to giving state money to what is now a terror-stamped organization in several countries.
In 2005, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) gave NOK 15 million to the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) after the tsunami in Southeast Asia in July 2004. This shows figures Ny Tid has received from the MFA.
The stamp of terror in 30 country
Almost ever since TRO was established in 1985, as a relief organization for Tamil refugees in India, it has been regarded as the Humanitarian Wing of the Tamil Tigers (LTTE). Especially because the organization is the only one operating in LTTE controlled areas in northern Sri Lanka. The organization was seriously in the spotlight of security services in 2006, as Swiss police have arrested a TRO representative on the border with France with 18 million euros (about 140 million) in cash, which French anti-terror authorities believed to have evidence that was intended LTTE. The LTTE is the terror stamped by over 30 countries, including the US, EU and Canada, but not by Norway.
On November 15, 2007, the United States State Department blocked TRO's U.S. bank accounts and banned U.S. citizens from donating money to the organization because they believed it served as a tire organization to raise money for the LTTE's armed struggle. At that time, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Robert Blake, stated that the TRO "has purchased ammunition, communications equipment and other technology for LTTE".
According to US authorities, TRO's collected funds in connection with the 2004 tsunami should have allowed LTTE to increase its military strength.
Emergency aid should thus have gone to strengthen the military struggle, including attacks on civilians. In this case, however, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry has a completely different view of reality than its counterparts in the US.
-We are aware of the allegations of close ties between the TRO and the LTTE, but the support Norway provided to the TRO's humanitarian efforts has not been used for this purpose. The TRO has been an important channel for humanitarian assistance to the areas north of Sri Lanka, says Wera Helstrøm, Information Advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not say whether the money has been sent to the Norwegian branch of TRO or directly to Sri Lanka, or what the 15 million has been used for.
- Not contributed to conflict
Norwegian People's Aid initiated is the collaboration with the CRO in Sri Lanka in 2002.
-When we entered Sri Lanka after the ceasefire in 2002, we cooperated with the TRO until August 2006, when the Sri Lankan authorities froze the organization's funds. Since then, we have worked directly with the TRO subdivision Humanitarian Demining Unit (HDU), but this cooperation is currently suspended as a result of the conflict has escalated, says Jane Andersen in Norwegian People's Aid.
Andersen believes that the funds that came in especially after the tsunami in 2004 have not contributed to the conflict.
“Our commitment has always taken into account the balance of the conflict, and we have been transparent and kept the cards open all the way.
When Ny Tid tried to contact TRO's Norwegian department, the person in question would not announce any affiliation with the organization on the mobile number given on the website.
