USD200 million profit margins
maintain sophisticated Tamil
Tiger war
Janes Intelligence Review: Press Release,
19 July 2007
[see also
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
interview on Jane's Intelligence Report on LTTE, 25 July 2007]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has created one of
the most sophisticated insurgencies in the world, largely due to a complex
global network of financial resources and weapons that are integral to
prolonging its campaign for a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka.
In a unique report on the financial operations of the LTTE, Jane’s Intelligence
Review reports that with financial and procurement structures well organised and
strategically positioned around the globe, the group has a profit margin that
would be the envy of any multinational corporation – some USD200 to 300 million
per year.
The Tamil Tigers is consequently the only known insurgent organisation with its
own army, navy and now even a rudimentary air force, with access to financial
resources and weapons giving it the luxury of introducing bold, new dimensions
to the conflict.
The report details two overarching financial and procurement bodies that provide
the main source of LTTE money, manpower and weapons; the Aiyanna Group and the
Office of Overseas Purchases (nicknamed the KP Department).
The Aiyanna Group functions as the group’s intelligence and operations body,
likely to be responsible for monitoring and ensuring the organisation’s
financial support and revenue streams, while the KP Department is most probably
the LTTE’s procurement arm.
In addition, the LTTE creates and staffs some charitable organisations,
projecting its influence through this front to raise money from Tamil
communities and, ultimately, convert the gains into arms.
The Jane’s Intelligence Review report says that the system works as an efficient
way to move funds wherever investment or procurement opportunities arise while
utilising a charitable façade’s tax-free status and legitimacy.
Geographically, the LTTE use a myriad of methods to maintain this formidable,
non-state support structure. The southern province of Tamil Nadu in India plays
a pivotal role in LTTE procurement and has become an essential transit point in
the LTTE arms, narcotics, contraband and possibly human smuggling.
Beyond Sri Lanka’s neighbour, Cambodia is one of the most significant single
sources of weapons for the insurgent group. The remainder of internationally
procured weapons are believed to originate from the rest of Southeast Asia,
North Korea, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and Ukraine.
The report adds that the procurement of anti-aircraft technology, given the
destruction wrought by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces' aerial assets, will be the
primary driver of the LTTE’s continued international fundraising campaign.
(ENDS)
Editor’s notes: To speak to Jane’s Intelligence Review or for a full copy of the
report as it will appear in next month’s edition, please contact Leah Turner,
Press and PR Officer, on +44 (0) 208 700 3922 or email leah.turner@janes.com
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