Pathmanapan Arrest : 3rd+4th lead
Confusion over capture of Tigers' arms procurer
By News DeskPublisher:The Nation - Publication Date: 12-09-2007
Thai authorities arrested the Tamil Tigers' chief arms procurer, Shanmugan Kumaran Tharmalingam, also known as Kumaran Pathmanathan or "KP", in Bangkok on Monday (Sept 10), according to the Sri Lankan defence ministry's official website.
But Thai Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Piyira Khempon said the government was not aware of the arrest, if any was made.
Thai police spokesman Lt General Narong Yangyern dismissed the report. He said a thorough check showed that the last time Thai police arrested any member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was in 2003 and he was extradited on Aug 15, 2007 to Sri Lanka.
According to online newspaper Asia Tribune's report out of Sri Lanka's capital of Colombo, KP had obtained Thai citizenship and was married to a Thai woman.
A senior Thai intelligence officer confirmed that KP has been travelling in and out of Thailand over the years but also dismissed the report that he was arrested on Thai soil.
According to the Tribune report, KP is a noted smuggler of arms and narcotics. Operating with bank accounts in London, Frankfurt, Denmark, Athens and Australia, he has had a free run so far.
"If indeed KP has been arrested, it would be a big blow to the LTTE. He is one man who can reveal the massive network of the LTTE on procurement worldwide," said Iqbal Athas, a Colombo-based security expert who follows the civil war there.
"Though known to be inactive, the fact that he has reportedly surfaced in Thailand is significant. This is in light of the military crackdown on the LTTE in Sri Lanka," Athas added.
According to the Tribune, KP's favourite bases have been Rangoon in Burma, Singapore and recently Johannesburg.
He moves smoothly across borders and is said to be in possession of numerous passports.
His arrest will be a big breakthrough to smash the arms smuggling racket of the Tamil Tigers. Investigations are expected to probe deep into the international network of LTTE smuggling links, LTTE procedures, money laundering and the underworld dealers who supply weapons and drugs.
"I've checked with related police bureaux _ the Immigration Police, the Metropolitan Police and the Special Branch. There has been no report of a Tiger rebel arrested in Bangkok,'' national police spokesman Lt-Gen Ronnarong Youngyuen was quoted as saying.
"If we'd arrested him, we would have made good publicity out of it,'' he said.
The reports were triggered by an allegation on a Sri Lankan government website that the leader had been arrested in Bangkok on Sept 10.
According to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence website, "Reliable sources from Thailand reveal that LTTE's chief for cross-border terrorist activities, Kumaran Padmanadan, alias 'KP' had been arrested in Bangkok."
Lt-Gen Ronnarong told the news agency that Thai police did hand over three Tamil Tigers to Sri Lanka last month after the rebels served jail terms for arms smuggling following their arrest four years ago.
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