Colombo, Sri Lanka
Two Australians were arrested this week for allegedly diverting tsunami aid to the Sri Lankan separatist group Tamil Tigers. Aruran Vinayagamoorthy and Sivarajah Yathavan, both of Sri Lankan origin, solicited donations to help Sri Lanka recover from the devastating 2004 tsunami, which killed 35,000 people in the island nation. But the “significant” amount of money, police say, went instead to the Tamil Tigers, a group notorious for using suicide bombings and assassinations in its nearly 30-year fight for an ethnic homeland. Vinayagamoorthy and Yathavan are believed to be members of the group. It’s the first time Australia’s new anti-terror laws have been used to prosecute anyone for plotting against another country.
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