The Hindu : `LTTE broadcasts will not reach India'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 27, 2002

International

International

`LTTE broadcasts will not reach India'

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO. DEC. 26. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam today said that there was "no cause for concern" that its broadcasts from the recently-acquired FM transmitters would reach India.

The group said it had "followed legal procedures" in acquiring the equipment and said that the facilitator, Norway, which had come under a cloud, was "not involved".

"The range of the broadcasts will not exceed the earlier transmissions by the Voice of Tigers (VoT)," an LTTE spokesman told The Hindu.

Asked about the possibility of its transmissions reaching southern India, he said: "there is no cause for concern that it will reach India" as it was only aimed at the areas that had already been serviced by the VoT in northern Sri Lanka — between the districts of Jaffna and Vavuniya. The manner in which the equipment was imported and handed over to the Tigers had raised a controversy in the island over Norway's role. Moreover, though the licence was granted for a range of 20 km, the possibility of a network of boosters taking the transmission across the seas has not been ruled out.

The Government, the rebels as well as the Norwegian facilitators had maintained a silence over the issue, till today's position by the LTTE spokesman. While the Government had said that it would give a "detailed statement" on the issue shortly, the Norwegian Embassy here declined comment.

Referring to the controversy over the import of the broadcast equipment, the LTTE spokesman said that "it is not a banned item" and that "there is no point in exaggerating the issue". The Tigers, he emphasised, had "followed the legal procedures in acquiring the equipment".

`Norway not involved'

On the controversy surrounding Norway's role in the episode, the LTTE said "Norway is not involved in this'' and did not elaborate.

Norway has been charged by the Sri Lankan Opposition with what it termed as breach in "diplomatic immunity" as the consignment was handled by them in Colombo before it was sent to the rebel-held northern Sri Lanka under Government escort.

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