Analysis : Why Would the LTTE Target Pakistan ?

Analysis

Why Would the LTTE Target Pakistan ?

14 August, 2006

Rajesh Sundaram, New Delhi


The Army spokesman Brig Atula Jayawardane told me over the phone some time back that the target of the blast in Colombo this morning was the Pakistan High Commissioner in Colombo.


(picture of Col.(retd.) Bashir Wali Mohammed)
His car was completely destroyed and 6 commandos travelling with him were among those killed. He said this seemed like an LTTE suicide attack.

The high commissioner is said to be out of danger.

Now you would ask why would the LTTE target Pakistan. It may seem odd.
You may even thing it is a case of mistaken identity.

But if you think again, there is a reason why the Pakistan Envoy has been targeted on the day Pakistan commemorates its 59th Independence day.

For one Pakistan is one of the suppliers of military hardware to the Sri Lankan government. It is reported that Pakistan recently opened a 250 dollar credit line to Sri Lanka to import arms from Pakistan. This includes spare parts for tanks, mortars and shells. Stuff that many other countries including India are reluctant to give Sri Lanka.

Apart from this the Tamil Tiger rebels have been accusing Pakistan of arming and training Muslim militant groups in the east of the country. Chief among them "Jihad" and "Jammat-e-Islami".

The Sri Lankan government has long refused to acknowledge the exisistance of these groups. Pakistan too has denied arming or training these groups.

But that has not stopped the LTTE's chief negotiator Anton Balasingham from going to the media claiming that he has evidence of direct Pakistani involvement.

In a startling revelation over Australian television Mr. Balasingham alleged that the Muslim armed group, details of which was made available to the government during the Geneva talks in February, was being assisted by the Pakistan Intelligence agency ISI.

The Pakistan High Commission in Colombo in a statement to a local newspaper had then said "There is not one iota of truth in these allegations. Pakistan is strictly against interfering in the internal matters of other sovereign states."

Spokesperson for the high commission Mr. Zahoor Ahamed Barlas, after referring the matter over to the Pakistani government, said in the statement that his government has always supported Sri Lanka in efforts to safeguard it's sovereign and territorial integrity.

Mr. Balasingham noted the LTTE was concerned over the alleged Pakistan intervention in Sri Lanka adding that it may have serious repercussions if India were to learn more about the Jihad groups.

In the Australian television interview Mr. Balasingham had said he has enough proof to substantiate his claims and was ready to furnish it to any Muslim political leader who contacts him.

The Pakistani High Commissioner, Col (retd) Bashir Wali Mohammed, was a former director of the Pakistani Intelligence Bureau.

Wali Mohammed has earlier served as head of Intelligence operations at the Pakistani High Commission in Colombo during the 1990s.