LTTE has huge profits - Report

: The London-based Jane’s Intelligence Review says the LTTE has not only created one of the “most sophisticated insurgencies in the world” but also has an annual “profit margin” of $200 to $300 m illion.

A report released on Wednesday says the Tigers have succeeded in establishing one of the sophisticated insurgency networks, largely due to a complex global network of financial resources and weapons that are integral to prolonging its campaign for a separate Tamil state.

In a rare report on the LTTE’s financial operations, Jane’s reports that with financial and procurement structures well organised and strategically positioned around the globe, the group has a profit margin that would be the envy of any multinational corporation.

The report details two overarching financial and procurement bodies that provide the main source of LTTE money, manpower and weapons: the Aiyanna Group and the Office of Overseas Purchases (nicknamed the KP Department).

As per Jane’s, the Aiyanna Group functions as the group’s intelligence and operations body, likely to be responsible for monitoring and ensuring the organisation’s financial support and revenue streams, while the KP Department is most probably the procurement arm.

The LTTE creates and staffs some charitable organisations, projecting its influence through this front to raise money from Tamil communities and, ultimately, convert the gains into arms, it reports.

The report says the system works as an efficient way to move funds wherever investment or procurement opportunities arise while utilising a charitable façade’s tax-free status and legitimacy.

(http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/19/stories/2007071956371400.htm)