Malaysia extradites 3 suspected Tamil Tigers to Sri Lanka: Report

COLOMBO - Three suspected Tamil Tigers arrested in Malaysia have been extradited to Sri Lanka where they are being questioned, a Sri Lankan official was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said the three suspects were brought to Sri Lanka on Monday night by officials of the Terrorist Investigation Department, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

Malaysian police arrested the three men suspected to be members of the Sri Lankan Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terrorist group in Selangor earlier this month. They were nabbed at different locations in Klang and Petaling Jaya in a special operation conducted by the Malaysian Special Branch's Counter-Terrorism Division on May 15.

Malaysian Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement that the men, who hold United Nations refugee cards, were suspected of attempting to revive LTTE activities. He said the suspects had arrived in Malaysia in 2004 and were suspected of using the country as their base to spread the group's propaganda and raise funds for their activities.

"In the operation, police also found and seized LTTE propaganda materials, media equipment as well as foreign currencies from 24 nations.

Since the end of a three-decade war with the LTTE in 2009, the Sri Lankan government has been working hard to crack down on LTTE presence in other countries.

Earlier this year, the Sri Lankan army killed an LTTE operative and two others who were allegedly attempting to revive the LTTE in the northern part of the island. On April 1, the Sri Lankan government also controversially banned 26 international organisations thought to have links with the LTTE.

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