Monday, 30 March 2015 01:17
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The European Union has brought back the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in to its list of terror groups.
The highest decision making body of the 28 EU member states, the European Council at the highest political level, has taken the clear decision (unanimously) to list the LTTE as a terror group on 26 March as stated in item (4) of its decision: “This Decision sets out the result of the review that the Council has carried out in respect of persons, groups and entities to which Articles 2, 3 and 4 of Common Position 2001/931/CFSP apply.”
The inclusion comes after the European General Court in October last year ordered the LTTE to be de-listed. The European Council appealed in late December and the process will continue for some time until the appeal is heard.
Sources said until last week’s review there were concerns whether the LTTE would get delisted as their lawyers were fighting for it in the courts apart from lobbying in some EU capitals.
They said the inclusion of LTTE in EU’s list of terror groups was a moral victory for Sri Lanka and was possible due to the intense dialogue carried out by Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera in several key capitals such as Delhi, Brussels, London, Washington DC.
Sources also recalled that current Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe when he was the Leader of the Opposition called on the EU to take action to keep the LTTE on the EU terror list immediately after the European General Court ruling.
