N Korea sold weapons to LTTE says security expert

North Korea had sold weapons to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) since the end of 1997, says the Head of the International Centre for Political Vilolence and Terrorism Research, Professor Rohan Gunaratna.

He told the BBC Sinhala Service that ninety five per cent of the weapons had been bought from North Korea though they were manufactured in China.

The procurement was done by LTTE leader, Ponnaiah Anandarajah, he said.

Anandarajah had initiated an agreement with the North Korean intelligence service through which weapons were purchased.

The weapons thus bought between 1997 and March, 2009 had been transported from ships purchased from Japan, Dr. Gunaratna said.

Asked what evidence would prove his facts, Dr. Gunaratna said that he was able to interview some LTTE members who were involved in transporting weapons. Some of them even had stayed in North Korea, he said.

“It was only after interviewing them that we were able to disclose this information,” he said.

He said payments for weapons purchased were paid at North Korean embassy in China.

Asked whether a country like China would not know where the weapons sold to North Korea were used, Dr. Gunaratna said that China was not aware of, and had no suspicion about its dealing with North Korea. – (BBC)