Peace Rally
Against LTTE Terrorism
in Sri Lanka

to
Urge the British Government to declare the LTTE a terrorist organization
and ban it

Join us on

Friday July 17, 1998 from 12.00 noon to 2.00 p.m.

Opposite the British Embassy,
3100 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20008
(next to the Observatory)

This Event Organized and Supported by:
Friends of Sri Lanka in the U.S. (FOSUS) (Washington, D.C.)
Friends of Sri Lanka in the U.S. (New Jersey and New York)
Save Our Sri Lanka (S.O.S.) Network of the United States of America

Transportation and parking: Parking in the immediate vicinity of the venue
is very limited. You are advised to park on a side street in the area and walk to the venue.

Metro: The closest metro stop is Dupont Circle on the Red Line. It is about
a 15-20 minute walk north on Massachusetts Avenue

Light refreshments will be available.

For More Information, Contact:
Friends of Sri Lanka in the U.S.
P.O. Box 2479
Kensington, MD 20891

Web: members.tripod.com/~FOSUS; E-mail: fosus@hotmail.com

Why a Peace Rally Against LTTE Terrorism?

The LTTE is one of the most ruthless and violent terrorist organizations in the world today. It has not only completely undermined the prospects for peace in Sri Lanka, but also posses a serious thereat to international peace and stability. In recognition of this basic fact the US banned the LTTE in 1997. India banned it following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by an LTTE suicide bomber. Malaysia also banned it recognizing it as a terrorist organization. However, there are a number of countries including Britain where the organization has a relatively free reign to continue its fundraising, arms purchasing and other activities that contribute to its campaign of violence. This Peace Rally is an effort to highlight this fact and persuade the British government also to do what is right and just and ban the LTTE to prevent it from using Britain as a staging post to commit acts of terrorism in Sri Lanka.

It is vital that we mobilize the maximum number at the Peace Rally to convey this important message effectively to the British government. Thus we urge you to make a special effort to come and to bring along with you friends be they Sri Lankan, Americans, or any other nationality. Nationality is not important. What is important is that they share the conviction that LTTE terrorism is a menace not only to Sri Lanka but also to all peace loving people who want to see a world free of terrorism.

The following is only a small sample of the acts of terrorism committed by the LTTE in recent years:

Killing of Mrs. Yogeswaran, the Tamil mayor of the northern city of Jaffna who was elected to that office in March 1998 by the Tamil people of that city in a democratic election (Previously, her husband who was a member of parliament was also assassinated by the LTTE as a part of its campaign to eliminate all democratic forces in the Tamil community.)

January 1998 bombing of the Temple of the Tooth, Kandy venerated by the world Buddhists community as one of the most sacred places of worship (it is the equivalent
of the bombing of, say, the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, or the Kabah in the Islamic holy city of Makkah.

A series of suicide bombings in Colombo that started in the 1980s, usually in crowded streets, bus stations, trains, and offices that have killed several hundreds, and injured or maimed thousands of others including a number of foreign visitors.

Assassination of the former prime minister of India Rajiv Gandhi, president of Sri Lanka R. Premadasa, senior cabinet minister and presidential candidate Gamini Dissanayake, and scores of other senior Sri Lankan officials. In many of these killings the LTTE used suicide bombers whose indiscriminate and murderous action killed not only the individuals named above but also large numbers of others who were present in the vicinity.

Why Britain should ban the LTTE?

LTTE uses Britain as a principal base for fund raising, arms purchases, and propaganda to promote terrorism.

LTTE is a significant supplier of narcotics to Western European countries.

LTTE and its agents have been involved in defrauding the British National Health Services, Inland Revenue, Social Security, and Local Councils.


The moment has arrived for Britain to courageously take the only reasonable step that it could take in regard to the LTTE - Declare it a terrorist organization and prohibit its activities in Britain.