Cambodia mulls probe of foundation supporting LTTE

Leader of the LTTE, Gen. Velupillai Pirapaharan

PHNOM PENH, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian government was considering to investigate the actions of a local foundation which allegedly supported Sri Lanka's separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said national media on Monday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has sent a letter to Interior Minister Sar Kheng to request him to do so, said English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodia Daily.

The foreign ministry received a diplomatic notice from the U.S. Embassy warning of the existence of the U.S.-based Tamil Foundation, the paper quoted the letter dated Feb. 26 as saying.

"Please, Minister, be informed about the organization and take measures to investigate the actions of this organization," said the letter, while not elaborating whether the Tamil Foundation was known to be active within Cambodia.

In July 2007, international security magazine the Jane's Intelligence Review reported that Cambodia was a significant source of weapons for the Tamil Tigers, but failed to mention its sources.

The Cambodian government denied it at the time, saying that Cambodia had destroyed many of its surplus arms and that the report referred to the situation before 1998.

Editor: Xiong Tong