Sri Lankan Nationalist Party Asks Norway to Send LTTE Leader

A Sri Lankan nationalist party has asked Norway to immediately handover an Oslo-based LTTE leader to face a criminal trial in the country.

COLOMBO: A Sri Lankan nationalist party has asked Norway to immediately handover an Oslo-based LTTE leader to face a criminal trial in the country.

In a letter written to the Norwegian Ambassador here, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) also known as the National Heritage Party accused Perinpanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyavan of conducting terrorist activities against Sri Lanka.

"We urge Norway to immediately handover Nediyavan to Sri Lankan authorities so that he can be tried for all his many crimes against the state of Sri Lanka and the people of Sri Lanka," JHU chief Champika Ranawaka wrote in the letter.

According to Ranawaka, Nediyavan, LTTE's top military leader, lives freely in Oslo, the capital of Norway.

Ranawaka accused Nediyavan of conducting terrorist activities against Sri Lanka despite an Interpol arrest warrant against him.

He said that recent investigations have confirmed Nediyavan's involvement in attempts to revive the LTTE.

Ranawaka is also a minister in the government headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Sri Lankan government had last month designated around 16 organisations and 422 individuals as terrorists and some of them were Norway based.

The Sri Lankan defence establishment has been saying that foreign governments would soon be alerted on the list for appropriate action.