Two held in UK on LTTE charges - reports

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 June 2007, 12:03 GMT]
Sri Lankan press reports said this week that two Tamils had been arrested in Britain on suspicion of connections to the Liberation Tigers. Police in the UK would only say that two unnamed men have been detained on suspicion of providing support to a banned organisation they did not name, the BBC reported.

The arrests were made late on Thursday, from two different locations in London, the BBC reported, adding hey are being held under British anti-terror laws which mean they can be held for 14 days without charge.

"Two men, aged 29 and 50, were arrested on 21 June - one in west London and the other in south-west London," Metropolitan Police spokesman Alastair Campbell told the BBC

"They were arrested on suspicion of providing support to a proscribed organisation... and taken to a central London police station, where they remain in custody,” he said.

"Some addresses in various locations in London are being searched in connection with the enquiry."

Metropolitan Police declined Friday to provide details on the nature of the investigations to British reporters. They also dismissed claims of charges reported in the Sri Lankan press as speculation.

If the pair are being held for their suspected links to the Tamil Tigers, it will be the first time that people of Tamil origin have been detained in the UK under the Terrorism Act, the BBC reported.

But the move comes after the arrests in separate incidents of Tamils in France, Australia and the United States on charges of supporting the LTTE.

Chronology: