[HCDX] Radio station accused of link to Tamil Tigers

["Mike Brooker" <aum108@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Radio station accused of link to Tamil Tigers
Smear campaign alleged: Cabinet to decide this week whether to revoke
licence

Stewart Bell
National Post

Tuesday, July 15, 2003

TORONTO - The federal Cabinet is to decide this week whether to cancel a
radio licence granted by the CRTC to a Toronto company with alleged links to
a South Asian terrorist organization.

The new station, to be launched this fall in Toronto at 101.3 FM, denies any
ties to extremists and insists it is the target of a smear campaign by
opponents of its plan to broadcast to the city's ethnic communities.

But government officials are concerned by allegations the broadcaster is
affiliated with the World Tamil Movement (WTM), a fundraising front for the
Tamil Tigers, a Sri Lankan terrorist group.

The RCMP is aware of the allegations and the Canadian Security Intelligence
Service has been advising the government on the matter. Cabinet is to decide
by tomorrow whether to overturn the CRTC decision.

The allegations come as the Cabinet is taking criticism for failing to
outlaw the Tamil Tigers under Canada's Anti-Terrorist Act. Stockwell Day,
the Canadian Alliance's foreign affairs critic, has launched a campaign to
ban the group.

Allegations of terrorist ties were brought to the attention of the CRTC last
summer by Sri Lankan Canadians, who wrote letters opposing a radio licence
application by Canadian Multicultural Radio.

The letters claimed the numbered company behind the radio bid was tied to
the WTM.

The letters also claim WTM volunteers had gone door to door in Tamil
neighbourhoods in Toronto to intimidate Sri Lankans into supporting the
radio licence bid.

The CRTC approved the licence anyway on April 17. Denis Carmel, a CRTC
spokesman, said of the "thousands and thousands" of responses to the
proposed station, only a few raised concerns about terrorism and the station
responded to all the allegations in full.

"We felt there was a competitive process and people were being a little too
passionate," he said. "The language of these letters was vague and there was
a lot of interventions, most of them favourable."

The Privy Council Office has since received 47 petitions seeking an appeal
of the decision. They have been referred to the Department of Canadian
Heritage, which has made a recommendation to Cabinet. It must announce its
decision by July 16.

Several of the petitions allege a link to the Tamil Tigers, also known as
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE. Though the organization has
not been banned, the federal government has frozen since the fall of 2001 on
suspicion of terrorist links.

"It is well known in the Sri Lankan community that the people who are behind
the licence ... are the fronts for the LTTE's major organizers in Canada,"
said one petition. The station denies the claims.

S. Sivakumaran, the radio station's chief operating officer, said some of
those who complained were supporters of competing bids. The company has
tried to track them down to serve them with defamation suits, but has not
been able to find them, he said. "I don't even know if some of these people
exist."

He said the station has responded to each of the allegations in detail and
will make its written response available after the Cabinet decision is
announced.

"It's a smear campaign," he said. "I could sense that, from having looked at
these appeals, it's a joint effort by some of the members of our community
who did not get the licence and some of these same people wrote support for
the other applicants during the application process."

The allegations do not concern members of the radio station team but rather
their relatives and friends, he said. "They are trying to say that he's got
a friend of so-and-so, he's got a relative. We're in no position to comment
about a third party. It's ridiculous....

"Post-Sept. 11, everyone's worried about terrorist link and terrorist things
and whoever is doing the strategy for these guys has told them to write
stuff like this because it gets everyone anxious and everyone's attention.

"If [members of the station's board] have any links, I'd be sure that the
Privy Council would get the RCMP and CSIS to give them a report." He said
neither agency had contacted the company concerning any investigation.

The Tamil Tigers have frequently used terrorist tactics such as suicide
bombings and political assassinations during a two-decade insurgency that
sought independence for the island's ethnic Tamil minority.

The violence was financed largely by expatriate Tamil communities,
particularly in Canada. CSIS has estimated the Tigers raised millions in
Canada through front organizations and crime.

The Tigers agreed to a ceasefire last year and entered peace talks with the
government. But they walked away from the negotiations in April and there
have been reports the LTTE is preparing for renewed war.

"I can tell you for sure that concerns with respect to security that have
been expressed, the RCMP is aware of them," said François Jubinville, of the
Privy Council Office.

The RCMP confirmed it was aware of the allegations but would not comment
further. "It's not our practice to identify who or what might be the subject
of a criminal investigation," Corporal Benoit Desjardins said. "We are aware
of it, but in regard to is there an investigation, I cannot comment on
whether there is one or not."

sbell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?id=330749D2-F735-4CF7-B2E7-B2422
654F6EA

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