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
[email protected]
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