Sri Lanka news columns

Stewart Bell , Canwest News Service Published: Monday, September 22, 2008 COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - A former commander of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers has admitted the guerrillas used money meant for humanitarian aid to buy weapons. Col. Karuna Amman said in an interview the rebels routinely bought arms with donations from abroad that were meant to help civilians in guerrilla-held areas. He called Canada the No. 1 one source of external income for the guerrillas, who are fighting for independence for Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamil minority. Col. Karuna Amman was the eastern commander of the Tamil Tigers until he defected to the government side in 2004. Karuna spent 22 years in the Tamil Tigers and was a top commander until he defected to the government side in 2004 and took his 6,000 cadres with him. The National Post interviewed him at a secretive location in Colombo for a series about Sri Lanka's long-running civil war. The RCMP and CSIS have long claimed the Tamil Tigers raise money i...