Talks between the Maldivian Foreign Ministry and the Sri Lankan government over the transfer of the four LTTE members convicted of smuggling guns through Maldivian waters are at an advanced stage.
Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in the Maldives Farooq confirmed on Thursday he had been in talks with the Foreign Ministry, while Foreign Minister Dr. Shaheed has indicated the government is unlikely to stand in the way of a transfer.
The four men were apprehended in May, after an Indian fishing boat they had previously hijacked, was steered into Maldivian waters. The Indian vessel was sunk by the Maldivian coastguard twenty four hours after one of the LTTE members had fired gunshots at a Maldivian fishing vessel which had approached the boat.
Investigations went on for six weeks, during which time the Foreign Minister says the four men confessed of being members of the LTTE. A snap trial took place in early July in which the suspects pleaded guilty to smuggling firearms into the Maldives.
The four men were sentenced to fifteen years on the same day. The Indian and Sri Lanka governments both had access to the suspects during detention, but the Maldivian government refused to extradite the men to Sri Lanka. Foreign Minister Dr. Shaheed explained there had been "public expectation the men be subjected to Maldivian law.”
But following a successful prosecution, Shaheed said the Foreign Ministry is considering the Sri Lankan government's request.
(http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/07/14/news/11.asp)
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