Chinese arms consignments for the LTTE had been moved overland to North Korea across the China-North Korea border before being transferred to the terrorist group’s ‘floating’ warehouses on the high seas close to Indonesia, for about a decade, The Island learns.

The LTTE had obtained its first Chinese arms consignment way back in 1994/1995 during the then People’s Alliance (PA) administration. On-going inquiries, well informed sources said, revealed that the China-North Korea overland transport of arms for the LTTE had operated for almost a decade before President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government intervened about two years ago.

Sources said that Sri Lanka’s much delayed intervention came as the LTTE moved to collect weapons directly from China once Sri Lanka received information regarding its clandestine overland route.

Sources said that the LTTE had deployed several small vessels to move arms from North Korea to ‘floating’ warehouses. The Navy in four separate operations destroyed eight ‘floating’ warehouses on the high seas, three of them in one operation.

An authoritative official source told The Island that there was no doubt that the vessel seized by the Canadians in their waters carrying 76 Sri Lankan Tamils had been one of the vessels which operated between North Korea and ‘floating’ arsenals.

Commenting on recent press reports that two items of clothing the men brought with them had tested positive for explosive residue, the official said a thorough survey of the ship, particularly hatches would reveal the arms link.

The Defence Ministry told The Island that Sri Lanka had sought access to the persons held in Canada as well as to the ship which allegedly visited at least two Indian ports in September this year after the collapse of the LTTE.

Sources said that the LTTE had obtained arms on

Eritrean end-user-certificates after Norwegian-brokered ceasefire agreement came into operation in February 2002. Sources emphasised that the Norway had set up LTTE-Eritrean link after the Chinese-North Korean route was exposed.

Sources said that Kumaran Padmanathan aka ‘KP’ had established the Chinese-North Korean route though LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran replaced him with another person subsequently identified as ‘Castro’.

The Japanese government, too, investigated the North Korean link. Japanese investigators had visited Colombo and met with senior Defence Ministry and intelligence services officials in connection with their investigation, sources said.

Sources said that the LTTE had obtained a considerable amount of weapons of East European origin, too, and smuggled them to north-eastern Sri Lanka. But India, too, remained a key supply base for a range of items, including explosives, detonators as well as an important transit facility until Sri Lanka sealed off the north-western seas.

Sources said that a high profile US investigation had revealed that the LTTE had capacity to carry out mid-sea transfer about 200 nautical miles off Sri Lanka. Top LTTE representatives, including foreign nationals, who had negotiated with undercover US agents posing off as arms agents said that what they paid for, should be delivered to LTTE ships about 200 nautical miles off Sri Lanka.

Millions worth of arms, ammunition and equipment captured by Sri Lanka consisted mainly of Chinese weapons, including a range of artillery pieces.