By IANS,
London : Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has accused Britain of double standards in tackling terrorism, saying that despite banning the Tamil Tigers it allowed them to raise money from Tamils here.
“You can’t have two different attitudes towards terrorism,” he told The Times in an interview published Friday. “I don’t agree that there are good terrorists and bad terrorists. There is only one kind of terrorist.”
Colombo says the 150,000 Tamils living in Britain, mostly in north London, send home some 70 million pounds every year. Rajapaksa said he raised the issue with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown during his visit to London this week.
“These are not voluntary contributions, the money is taken by force, usually a percentage of their income.
“The money is sent back to buy weapons. London is not the only place; money is also sent from Europe, Canada and other places,” the president added.
Rajapaksa also said that he will not resume peace talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) until it agrees to disarm.
“When they are weak they call on the international community to arrange a ceasefire. During this period they train and rearm and then fight back. This time if they want to talk, they should disarm first,” he said.