Sri Lanka's Touchwood to set up an agri project in Cambodia ... more eviction on the way?

Sept 11, 2012 (LBT) - Sri Lanka’s Touchwood Investments PLC has acquired 11,138 hectares of land in Cambodia to set up an agricultural project to plant rubber and other crops. Chairman of the firm, Roscoe A. Maloney says the acquisition done in the previous financial year is aimed at exploring the opportunity that will emanate for global food requirements in the future.

“It is expected that global food demand will increase by nearly 70% by 2050” added Maloney in the firm’s latest annual report. “With this in mind the group has acquired 11,388 hectares of land in Cambodia to set up an agricultural project to plant rubber and other Crops” says Maloney.

ASIA: Three great protests - In Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and the Omkareshwar Dam in India

September 6, 2012
Contributors: Basil Fernando
Source: Asian Human Rights Commission

When people are hurt by the actions of authorities, they protest. When the hurt is deep and widespread it could give rise to collective modes of protest. Three such protest movements are now taking place in Asia. One is in Hong Kong, where the protesters are young students, supported by parents and a large section of society. They are protesting against proposed curriculum changes, which the government claims have been introduced to cultivate positive moral values and patriotism. However, students and parents see it as a to move to brainwash the young and to undermine Hong Kong's deeply held democratic values.

Another protest is going on amongst the university students and their teachers in Sri Lanka, against the attempt by the government to reduce expenditure in education and limit the opportunities for education under the guise of modernization. They demand that the percentage of expenditure on the education budget should be increased to 6% of the GDP. The government is resisting this protest by closing down all the universities indefinitely.

A third protest of the most unusual nature is taking place in India, where a group of indigenous people have submerged themselves neck deep in water for over 12 days now, protesting against eviction from their land without compensation. They are being evicted for the construction of the Omkareshwar Dam, and they are protesting against the illegal increase in the water level, beyond that which was allowed by the Supreme Court of India. There protest is called Jal Satyagrah.

Sri Lanka firm to plant rubber in Cambodia [-Even Sri Lanka is partaking in the illegal land concessions in Cambodia]

April 10, 2012 (LBO) - Sri Lankan plantation company Kotagala Plantations plans to plant 20,000 hectares of rubber in Cambodia, it said in a stock exchange filing.

The total value of the project is 70 million US dollars, it said.

The move comes at a time Sri Lankan rubber manufacturers have had to import rubber because of inadequate local production and rising costs.

Sarath Fonseka of Sri Lanka and Sam Rainsy of Cambodia

"Cambodia and Sri Lanka have reached the same point of rejecting the liberal democratic foundations of their countries. The jailing of the opposition leaders of both countries is symbolic of the commonality of the political strategies and ideologies."

By Basil Fernando

Sri Lanka Guardian

(September 30, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka Guardian) What Sarath Fonseka and Sam Rainsy have in common is that they are the most popular opposition leaders in their countries and that they have been jailed for that very reason. Political popularity is treated as a serious crime in both countries, where the ruling parties are aspiring to create one party rule.

Here are some similarities between the political styles followed by the ruling regimes in both countries:

The ruling regimes enjoy more than 2/3 majority in their parliaments. Hun Sen in fact has 90 seats out of 123 in the parliament, in which Sam Rainsy’s party has 26 seats. When the first election was held after the Pol Pot period May 1993, the opposition party won the election and the party of the present Prime Minister Hun Sen lost despite of their having the territorial control of the largest part of Cambodia. However, through subsequent elections, Hun Sen’s party has gradually gained control of power and the Funcinpec party, which was the party created by the former king, Norodom Sihanouk. From having the majority, the Funcinpec party, was reduced to two seats in 2008. The next opponent to the ruling party was Sam Rainsy and now he is being jailed on flimsy charges. The ruling regime controls the courts and is able to get whatever verdicts it wants on political matters.

Sarath Fonseka, who was a military leader, was chosen as the common opposition candidate for the elections by several political parties and he was able to get nearly 40% of the vote (he claims that he in fact won the election and was wrongfully deprived of the victory). Later, in the parliamentary elections, he became a Member of Parliament and he was elected while he was being kept in military custody. Later he was sentenced to jail by court martial and the president, his political opponent, confirmed the verdict of the military tribunal. The arrest by the military and the use of the military tribunals was designed to deprive fair trial for the political opponent of the president.

Thus, the manipulation of the judicial process to achieve political ends has become a very essential component of the political apparatus of the suppression in both countries. Cambodia became a liberal democracy only recently. That is, by the agreement of all political parties to the Paris Agreements which created the basis for the United Nations interventions to organize elections after a long period of political devastation of the country.

The constitution which was adopted for the new Cambodia in 1993 declares Cambodia as a liberal democracy. The structure of the constitution is based on liberal democratic principles. However, at the time that the constitution was adopted, none of the basic institutions which were needed for liberal democracy existed in the country. That was because of the ruthless revolution of Pol Pot in which over 2 million people were destroyed and all the institutions in Cambodia were also brought to an end.

The most permanent institution of Cambodia, which was the monarchy, was also virtually brought to an end by the Khmer Rouge revolution, which took place between 1975 and 1979. Thereafter, a group of Cambodians supported by the Vietnamese took over the rule of the major part of Cambodia. The Vietnamese advisors laid the foundations for the infrastructure of administration in the devastated country. Naturally, their system of administration was based on socialist principles. The basic administration is controlled by the ruling political party. The ‘court system’ that was introduced was in fact an apparatus of administration to safeguard the state rather than to protect the rights of the citizens.

It was on this administrative apparatus that a liberal democratic constitution was imposed. Naturally, there was no bridge between the constitution and the actual administration. Within a short period of time, the constitution lost all practical relevance for the administration of the country. Thus, it was possible for the CPP of Hun Sen to reassert their control. Thus, Cambodia became a liberal democracy only in name.

Sri Lanka had a very much longer history of development of civil administration and judicial institutions on the basis of the common law tradition. When the country became independent from the British, Sri Lanka also adopted a liberal democratic constitution. There was a tradition of judicial institutions which had a history of 200 years. The system of civil administration was also had a more or less similar history. Education on liberal democratic principles had gone on for a long period and many persons were qualified as judges, lawyers and civil servants, in foreign universities. Later, the local educational institutes of high quality also developed in the country. The constitution after independence operated on the basis of these developments.

In 1978, however, there was an abrupt change in the constitutional structure of the country. While keeping a façade of liberal democratic jargon, an executive presidential system without any checks and balances was introduced into the country. The executive president was placed above the law and was not answerable to the courts. This was in radical contradiction to the tradition which had existed in the country until then. In the initial stages there was resistance to the new system introduced by the 1978 Constitution and the first Chief Justice, Neville Samarakoon, appointed by the same executive president who created the constitution, symbolized this resistance by his own open opposition to the executive president. However, over several decades, the system got consolidated, undermining the parliamentary system, judicial service and also all the public institutions of the country. Gradually, the executive presidential system devoured and destroyed the liberal democratic system, and its course was completed by the 18th Amendment to the constitution, which was passed just a few weeks ago.

Cambodia and Sri Lanka have reached the same point of rejecting the liberal democratic foundations of their countries. The jailing of the opposition leaders of both countries is symbolic of the commonality of the political strategies and ideologies. The idea that economic development requires a strong leader who is not opposed by other political forces is the core of the ideology that is common to Cambodia and Sri Lanka now.

Buddhist flag marks 125th anniversary

Sunday, 16 May 2010
Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka)

Of all things Sri Lanka has bestowed on the world the Buddhist flag, which celebrated its 125th anniversary on April 28, is probably the most important. The 125th anniversary is special for several reasons. The Buddhist flag was first hoisted on - April 28, 1885 - an Adhi Vesak poya day, after a long struggle to establish Buddhists religious rights.

The Colombo Committee comprising Ven. Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera, Don Carolis Hewavitharana (father of Anagarika Dharmapala), Andris Perera Dharmagunawardana, William de Abrew, Peter de Abrew, Charles A. De Silva, H.William Fernando and N.S. Fernando and chaired by Ven. Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera with Carolis Pujitha Gunawardana as Secretary originally designed the first Buddhist flag when the country was under colonial rule. The Buddhists had lost their freedom to worship and conduct religious activities, during the colonial period.

It was due to the indefatigable the efforts of such famous bhikkus as Ven. Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Nayake Thera, Migettuwatte Sri Gunananda Thera and Henry Steele Olcott that the Buddhists eventually got the freedom to engage in religious activities. Henry Steele Olcott felt that the Buddhists needed a symbol and as such the Buddhist flag was designed to mark the revival of Buddhism in 1880s.

The depiction of the first Buddhist Flag was published in the "Sarasavi Sandaresa" newspaper of April 17, 1885. The Buddhist flag was first hoisted 125 years ago at Dipaduttaramaya, Kotahena, Colombo by Ven. Migettuwatte Gunananda Nayake Thera, to mark the first Vesak public holiday under the British rule. It was also hoisted in Vidyodaya Pirivena, Colombo, Kelaniya Rajamaha Viharaya and Hunupitiya Gangaramaya.

The original flag was redesigned jointly by Colonel Henry Steele Olcott, the founder president of the Buddhist Theosophical Society - and J.R. de Silva on the advice of the Buddhist clergy and published its depiction in Sarasavi Sandaresa of April 8, 1886 and hoisted on the Vesak day.

The new flag was introduced to Japan by Anagarika Dharmapala and Henry Steele Olcott in 1889 and was followed by other Buddhist countries such as Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. In 1952 it was recognised as the international Buddhist flag by the World Buddhist Congress.

The five colours of the flag represent the six colours of the aura that emanated from the body of the Buddha at the time of Enlightenment. Blue (neela) represents Loving Kindness, tranquillity and Universal Compassion; yellow (pitha), the Middle Path - abstaining from extremes of luxury and suffering; red (lohitha) stands for achievement, wisdom, virtue, fortune and dignity; white (odatha) for purity and emancipation and orange (manjestha) the Essence of Buddhism with wisdom, strength and dignity. The vertical stripe, compound of the other five colours (Prabhaswara - 'essence of light') symbolizes Truth.

"The colours of the Buddhist flag represent the Buddhas aura, which was the result of grasping the truth" explained Prof. Ven. Iththademaliye Indrasara Thera, Vice Chancellor, Buddhist and Pali University.

P. W. D Chandra Jayatillake, Secretary, Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs called upon the Sri Lankans to respect the Buddhist flag - an object of international veneration - during the Vesak season. "People often use the Buddhist flag to stop vehicles at dansalas. But we should learn to pay more respect to the Buddhist flag."

"The Buddha disowned the caste system and always regarded every human being alike" said Ven. Iththademaliye Indrasara Thera. He explained that the Buddha always hoped for universal peace and said that the only way to pay respect to such an amazing Being is to aspire to build a society devoid of caste, class or any other form of discrimination.

"The end of a three decade old war and the forthcoming 2600 Buddha Jayanthi have presented us with a good opportunity to fulfill our duty - both laity and bhikkus alike - of developing a peace - loving and civilized society with no racial discrimination" said Prof. Ven. Iththademaliye Indrasara Thera.

This is exactly what the 2600 Sambuddhathwa Jayanthi Steering Committee has sought to do. The Steering Committee appointed by the President is made up of 26 members and chaired by Ven. Niyangoda Vijitha Siri Thera of the Malwathu Chapter. Its objective is to create a society devoid of corruption and crime, a society that respects its elders, said K. Kalupahana, Secretary, Sambuddhathwa Jayanthi Steering Committee.

The Committee would focus on encouraging religious and Pali studies, observing sil, giving alms, improving agriculture by tree planting campaigns, ensuring the welfare of the religion through ordaining and providing training for bhikkus and renovation of temples in commemoration off the Buddha Jayanthi.

This is an effort to be shared by the mahasangha, laity the government and the private sector as well.

"We also hope to collaborate with foreign Buddhist organisations to obtain funding for an International Buddhist Conference to be held in May 2011" the Secretary said. In 1998, at an international Buddhist conference much like the one proposed to be held in Sri Lanka, the then Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar proposed that the UN declare Vesak an international holiday. 'We hope to pursue this matter, Kalupahana said.

Sri Lanka not aware of plan to appoint Thaksin as adviser

December 31, 2009
The Nation

Sri Lanka on Thursday denied a report that the government planned to appoint fugitive ex-Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra as an economic adviser.

Thaksin's brother-in-law Somchai Wongsawat claimed on Wednesday that Colombo will name Thaksin as an adviser to the government.

Colombo-based Daily Mirror online quoted Sri Lanka's Deputy Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama as saying that he is not aware of any such move.

Thaksin poised to become adviser for Sri Lanka: Somchai

December 30, 2009
The Nation

The Sri Lankan government is expected to name ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra as adviser, his brother-in-law and former Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat said on Wednesday.

Somchai called on the government not to be overly concerned about the move, alluding to the retaliatory measures when Thaksin became the adviser to Cambodia last month.

He said Thaksin working for Cambodian and Sri Lanka should not be seen as harmful to the security of Thailand.

In the past couple of months, Thaksin revealed he made two trips to Sri Lanka.

Theravada Buddhism in ancient and medieval Sri Lanka

Wednesday, 26 September 2007
Kamalika Pieris
Daily News (Sri Lanka)

THERAVADA BUDDHISM: Ven. Walpola Rahula Thera in his History of Buddhism (1956) took the view that Sri Lanka would have known about Buddhism during the time of the Buddha Himself, since there was regular contact between India and Sri Lanka during that period.

This view has been strengthened by the recent discovery that Anuradhapura has settlements from 10th century BC. Archaeologist Siran Deraniyagala has stated that Buddhism would have come into Sri Lanka early.

If so, then Buddhism was known in Sri Lanka long before the reign of King Dharmasoka and the arrival of Arhant Mahinda Thera in 3rd century BC.

State religion

E.W. Adikaram in his Early History of Buddhism (1946) had also concluded that Buddhism existed in Ceylon before the arrival of Arhant Mahinda Thera. He took the view that Arhant Mahinda Thera came to set up the monastic order.

He said that it was only after the conversion of King Devanampiyatissa that Buddhism became the State religion in Sri Lanka.

Historians now think that the meeting between Arhant Mahinda Thera and King Devanampiyatissa was pre-arranged. Communication would not have been a problem.

The Magadhi language, which Arhant Mahinda Thera spoke, would have been similar to Sinhala. The Asokan inscriptions are similar to Sinhala inscriptions of 3rd century BC.

The doctrine preached by Arhant Mahinda Thera in Sri Lanka was based on the Sthaviravadin School of Buddhist thought, known as Theravada. Theravada was considered the doctrine coming direct from the time of the Buddha.

Theravada established itself firmly in the island. The Sinhala kings and the three Nikayas - Mahavihara, Abhayagiri and Jetavana embraced the Theravada doctrine. In time, Sri Lanka came to be seen as the one country that had preserved Buddhism in its original form in the Theravada doctrine.

Theravada system

However, there was a strong Mahayana presence in Sri Lanka during the second half of the Anuradhapura period.

Ven. Walpola Rahula Thera says that Mahayana influence over the ideas and teaching of Theravada was persistent and that as time went on Mahayana ideas and practices crept slowly in the Theravada system and were accepted and incorporated into the orthodox teaching without question of their validity.

Mahavihara and Abhayagiri developed two different schools of Theravada thought. Mahavihara was conservatively Theravada and had its own interpretation of the Theravada doctrine.

Mahavihara teachings went to South India. R.A.L.H. Gunawardana says that most of the Pali works attributed to South Indian scholars are expositions of the teachings of the Mahavihara.

Abhayagiri, though receptive to Mahayana and Tantra, was a Theravada establishment and was recognised as such in India. Abhayagiri had its own interpretation of the Pali canon and its own commentaries. Abhayagiri disseminated Buddhism more energetically than Mahavihara. Ven. Hsuan Tsang Thera said that Abhayagiri 'widely diffused the Tripitaka'.

Sri Lanka made a unique contribution to the Theravada doctrine. The Sangha, with the support of the king, paid special attention to the preservation of the doctrine. The doctrine was memorised and transmitted orally from generation to generation of Monks.

Pali Tripitaka

The canon was divided into collections and each collection was given to a specific group of monks to memorise. Then in the reign of Vattagamani (89-77 BC), the Tripitaka was put into writing.

This was the first time that the Theravada doctrine had been recorded in writing and it was done in Sri Lanka. As a result, the Theravada canon, which disappeared from India, survived in Sri Lanka.

The Pali Tripitaka is very important. It contains the earliest Buddhist canon. It is also the only complete version. The Chinese, Tibetan and Sanskrit Tripitaka are fragmented. Paranavithana points out that the preservation of the Theravada canon ranks as the greatest contribution made by Sri Lanka to the intellectual heritage of the world. numerous commentaries.

The Sinhala contribution did not end there. Paranavithana says that Mahinda Thera brought with him the commentaries he had got from his teachers, explaining the terms used in Buddhism.

These were handed down with great care in the Sinhala monasteries. The Sinhala monks examined these commentaries and then wrote numerous commentaries of their own. These Sinhala commentaries formed a 'huge literature.'

One collection of such writings was said to be equal in volume to seven elephants of middle size. The earliest commentaries were the Maha Attakatha, the Maha Paecari and the Kurundi.

They were the three principal Sinhala works on which the subsequent commentaries of almost all the important texts of the Tripitaka were based. Short extracts from these Sinhala originals can be found in the Dampiya Atuva Getapadaya.

These Sinhala commentaries (Atuva) were greatly valued as a major contribution to Theravada. They eventually became the only commentaries available on Theravada.

The Sinhala Atuva were translated into Pali in the 5th century, by three Indian monks, Buddhaghosa, Buddhadatta and Dhammapala.

Buddhaghosa, monk from Andhra or Telegu country, arrived in the reign of Mahanama (406-428) and translated selected Sinhala commentaries.

Task of translations

These are the Pali commentaries, which we now possess. Buddhaghosa was not given ready access to the commentaries. He was first examined by the Mahavihara to see whether he was capable of undertaking the task of translations. The two Cola monks Buddhadatta and Dhammapala came to Sri Lanka later and translated further Sinhala commentaries to Pali.

The belief that after Ven. Buddhaghosa Thera, the Sinhala commentaries were gathered together and destroyed by fire is incorrect.

The Sinhala commentaries did to go out of use as soon as the Pali version was made. The Sinhala commentaries were in use until at least the 10th century. These commentaries are now irretrievably lost.

The Sinhala Sangha provided new material to the Sutta Pitaka of the Theravada canon. The Kuddakapatha, the first book of the Khuddaka Nikaya was compiled and given canonical authority in Sri Lanka.

Valuable contribution

The Parivara Section of the Vinaya Pitaka was expanded and the Parajikapali and Pacittiyapali sections added. A valuable contribution was made on the question of Nibbana as a metaphysical entity, on the theory of phenomena, and on the development of the Theory of Double Truth as held in the Theravada Buddhism of the time.

Visudhimagga contained a chapter on the Theravada interpretation of the theory of dependant origination, where the twelve-fold theory was dealt with more deeply and more extensively than in other works.

This text carries a detailed exposition of the three-life interpretation of dependant origination. Sri Lanka also made a valuable contribution to Buddhology, by examining all references to the Buddha in the Buddhist texts.

Sri Lanka became a centre for Buddhist studies. Sinhala monks were admired for their strictly disciplined, austere style and for their scholarship. There were many scholars of repute. Foreign monks visited Sri Lankan monasteries to advance their knowledge of Buddhism. In the Anuradhapura period many South Indian monks came to Mahavihara in the Anurahdapura period to study under Sinhala Monks.

Three valued relics

The Chinese monk Fa Hsien Thera came in the reign of Mahanama (406-428) and stayed for about 2 years. He found many foreigners at Abhayagiri.

Two Cola monks Ven. Buddhamitta Thera and Kassapa Thera arrived during the reign of Parakramabahu I. Around the year 1171, the Burmese Monks Chapata Thera was studying in Sri Lanka.

He met Nanda Thera from Kachipura, as well as Sivali Thera, from Tamralipti, who had come to Sri Lanka to study the teachings of the Mahavihara. The son of the king of Cambodia was also in Sri Lanka preparing for his ordination. In the reign of Buvanekhabahu I (1272-1284) Dhammakitti Thera, a senior Monk from Ligor (Nakon Sri Thammarat) arrived in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka was an important place of worship and pilgrimage. Sri Lanka has three valued relics, the Tooth, Hair and Bowl Relics. The alms bowl and several other Relics of the Buddha including the right collarbone, came during Arhat Mahinda Thera's time.

The Kesa Dhatu arrived in Sri Lanka during the reign of Moggallana I (491-508). During the time of Kublai Khan (1260-1294 AD) a mission came from China to pay respect to the Buddha's alms bowl. King Thihathura (1469-1481) and his Queen made their hair into a broom, studded its handle with gems and sent it to sweep the floor of the Tooth Relic Temple in Kotte.

A branch of the Sacred Bodhi Tree had arrived with Sanghamitta Therani. It took root in Anuradhapura.

Saplings of this Tree were distributed all over the island, including Jambukolapatuna (Sambiliturai) and Kataragama. Sri Pada was known during the time of the Mahavamsa. It became a popular place of worship once Vijayabahu I (1055-1110) made it accessible.

Lineage of ordination

Sri Lanka possessed an unbroken lineage of ordination coming from the time of Arhat Mahinda Thera. This brought many persons into Sri Lanka for ordination.

They came from Burma, Cambodia, India and Thailand. Ven. Walpola Rahula Thera researching into Buddhism in the Anuradhapura period, found that two persons from India, a Brahmana from Pataliputra (Patna) and a wealthy merchant named Visakha came to Sri Lanka and were ordained as monks, having heard of the fame of one Ven. Mahanaga Thera of Sri Lanka. Those who could not come here obtained the Sinhala ordination from elsewhere.

In the 14th century a Thai monk went to Burma and received Upasampada from a Sinhala monk, Udumbaragiri.

The Sinhala monks propagated Theravada Buddhism in other countries. Bodhisri inscription at Nagarjunikonda (3rd century) says that monks from Sri Lanka helped entrench Buddhism in many regions in greater India and beyond, such as Kashmir, Gandhara and China.

The Sinhala Monks helped to establish Theravada Buddhism in Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia. This contribution is still remembered. At a symposium on Nalanda held in Singapore in 2006, a number of speakers had made reference to Sri Lanka's historic role in the spread of Buddhism in South East Asia.

Sinhala monks were highly regarded in India. They were praised in an inscription at Nagarjunikonda, dated to 3rd century. Ven. Hiuen Tsang Thera, who was in India in the 7th century, said that the Sinhala Monks "were distinguished in their attitude to moral rules, in their power of abstraction and their wisdom.

Their manners were grave and imposing. Their correct conduct was an example for subsequent ages."

To be continued

Top Sri-Lankan Tamil Tiger arrested in Bangkok: "Cambodia is the hub of the LTTE East Asia Network"

Top Tamil Tiger arrested in Bangkok

Tuesday September 11, 2007
BangkokPost.com, Agencies

Thailand has arrested the finance chief of the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka, allegedly the group's chief procurer of arms.

Kumaran Pathmanadan is reported to have been arrested by police in Bangkok on Monday evening. He is one of the top officials in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the formal name of the group.

Pathmanadan apparently had obtained Thai citizenship. He continued to run the global network of LTTE offices and its weapons procurement, logistics and money laundering operations.

He has been on Interpol's Most Wanted list for a number of years. He has also been implicated in several assassinations of political leaders.

The online newspaper Asian Tribune called him "the king pin of Tiger arms smuggling".

"He is a noted smuggler of arms and narcotics. Operating with bank accounts opened in London, Frankfurt, Denmark, Athens and Australia... he has had a free run so far," the newspaper alleged

His arrest followed the detention in Ranong province last month of three Tamil Tiger operatives trying to buy guns and 45,000 rounds of ammuntion.

All four were suspected of running a Tamil Tiger gun-running ring centered in Thailand.

Pathmanadan, who also had a number of aliases, has recently been the subject of a manhunt that stretched to Johannesburg, Rangoon, Singapore and Bangkok. Police said they believed he had bank accounts in London, Frankfurt Denmark, Athens and Australia and has over 200 passports for his use.

He and his group are suspected of running weapons purchased Thailand and neighbouring countries to the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. The Tigers have been desinated as a terrorist group by most western countries, but not Thailand.

A Jane's Intelligence report on the group stated that despite the cease-fire agreement in Sri Lanka, the LTTE continued to re-supply cadres. It said:

"While Cambodia is the hub of the LTTE East Asia Network, Thailand continues to serve as the most important country for trans-shipment of munitions and coordination of logistics... its excellent communications infrastructure, proximity to former war zones in both Cambodia and [Burma] and its western coastline facing the Bay of Bengal and Sri Lanka beyond have made Thailand the ancient interface between the LTTE's war zone."

Tea Banh on Cambodia providing weapons to Sri Lankan rebels: Deny! Deny! Deny! ... and more Deny!

July 25, 2007
Cambodia denies providing weapons for rebels in Sri Lanka

Cambodian Minister of Defense Tea Banh has denied report that Cambodia was a source of weapons for Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam, local press reported on Wednesday.

The report is entirely groundless, and there is no authentic evidence to prove it, the Cambodia Sin Chew Daily quoted Tea Banh as saying.

The weapons which belong to the Cambodian government are all in the country, he said, adding that nobody will export them to foreign countries.

The minister made the comments in response to recent reports that Cambodia remains a significant source of weapons for Sri Lanka's separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam.

The Jane's Intelligence Review said on its website on Thursday that "Cambodia is one of the most significant single source of weapons for the insurgent group".

Source: Xinhua

Cambodia remains a significant source of weapons for Sri Lanka's separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

July 23, 2007
Cambodian official admits possible small-scale leakage of weapons

Cambodian official has admitted that some weapons may leak out of the kingdom and if such smuggling occurred, it was likely not large scale, English newspaper Cambodian Daily reported on Monday.

The government has made every effort to shut down illegal weapons trade, Interior Ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Khieu Sopheak was quoted as saying.

"There could be some individuals" involved in smuggling of weapons, said Sopheak, adding that "we would be happy to get information to lead us to the offenders."

Sri Lanka officials present evidence of arms smuggling from Cambodia several years ago, but it has since praised Cambodia's anti-smuggling efforts, he said.

The general made the comments in response to the recent reports that Cambodian remains a significant source of weapons for Sri Lanka's separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam.

Foreign magazine the Jane's Intelligence Review said on its web on Thursday that "Cambodia is one of the most significant single source of weapons for the insurgent group," adding that its weapons also come from elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

Source: Xinhua