Countering terrorist financing and money laundering:
US report lauds Lanka’s commitment
Rasika SOMARATHNA
Sri Lanka has shown a high level of commitment to counter terrorist financing and money laundering, a US state department report on terrorism said. The ‘Country Reports on Terrorism’, released last Thursday, said that while there were no terrorist incidents within Sri Lanka in 2010, there were continuing concerns that the LTTE’s international network of financial support might still be functioning and therefore, most counter-terrorism activities undertaken by the Sri Lankan government were targeted at countering terrorist finance.
In February, Sri Lanka provided a high-level written commitment to work with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to implement the following corrective measures:
(1) adequately criminalizing money laundering and terrorist financing; and (2) establishing and implementing adequate procedures to identify and freeze terrorist assets.
The government was drafting amendments to the 2005-2006 laws on money laundering and terrorist financing, in accordance with FATF recommendations, at year’s end, the report further said.
The report which provides and assessment of trends and events in international terrorism said that in Sri Lanka legislative efforts too were focused on limiting financial support for the remnants of the LTTE.
It said that Sri Lanka had signed a MOU with the Financial Intelligence Unit of Bangladesh to facilitate the investigations and prosecution of persons suspected of money laundering and terrorist financing. In addition Lanka has already signed similar MOU’s with Philippines, Nepal, Cambodia, Malaysia, Afghanistan, South Korea and Indonesia, the report noted.
On the government efforts to restore normalcy in the former conflict affected areas the report observed, that in order to address lingering resentment in areas that were formerly held by LTTE, the Sri Lankan government was working to restore civil administration, resettle Internally Displaced Persons, provide immediate infrastructure development, encourage private sector participation, and promote the development of industries.
On regional terrorism the US state department report said “South Asia continued to experience violence in 2010 as terrorists expanded their operations and networks across the region and beyond”.
It added, “in response the US worked to increase counter terrorism cooperation with its partners in South Asia”.
Following are some of the highlights the State Department report observed on Sri Lanka:
Legislation and Law Enforcement: Legislative efforts were focused on limiting financial support for the remnants of LTTE. Domestically, there was a large budgetary allocation for defence and monitoring of Tamil diaspora activity in coordination with foreign governments.
The United States provided training for relevant Sri Lankan government agencies and the banking sector in combating the provision of financial support to the LTTE remnants.
The Sri Lankan government implemented the Container Security Initiative and the Megaports programme at the Port of Colombo.
Regional and International Cooperation: In October, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Sri Lanka signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the FIU of Bangladesh to share financial information to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of persons suspected of money laundering and terrorist financing. Sri Lanka has already signed MOUs with the Philippines, Nepal, Cambodia, Malaysia, Afghanistan, South Korea, and Indonesia.
Countering Radicalization and Violent Extremism: In order to address lingering resentment in areas that were formerly held by LTTE combatants, the Sri Lankan government was working to restore civil administration, resettle Internally Displaced Persons, provide immediate infrastructure development, encourage private sector participation, and promote the development of industries.
Source: Daily News (22 August 2011)
