South Africa could not confirm on the existence of a clandestine LTTE camp inside its territory when Sri Lankan intelligence agencies had requested to probe on the matter almost a year after Prabhakaran’s death, recently revealed intelligence reports said.

Accordingly, the Sri Lankan intelligence had requested its South African counterparts to investigate if such camps were in that country in 2010. This camp was suspected to have been attended by individuals from Australia, Canada and UK.

Interestingly, South African intelligence had rejected it saying the information could not be confirmed while maintaining that such allegations have been made since 1998.

The secret intelligence cable is part of the spy files from intelligence agencies all over the world that were leaked to Al-Jazeera English TV Channel.

The State Security Agency (SSA) of South Africa on June 9, 2010 had told the head of foreign Liaison that “Our service could not confirm information from your service suggesting that a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) military training camp was held in South Africa in May 2010 and that Individuals from Australia, Canada and the UK may have attended.”

SSA further praised Tamil Organisations in South Africa, saying “Actively involved in promoting the Tamil Culture and heritage they are continuously involved in organising various cultural and other events.”

“They are involved in various fundraising initiatives such concerts, to raise funds to provide relief to under privileged, homeless, disabled, orphans and refugees both in Sri Lanka and in South Africa.”

South African Intelligence also noted that over the Past year, Tamil Organisations from time to time staged peaceful protest marches, including at major sporting events to voice their opposition at perceived human rights abuses by the Sri Lankan government.

“However, their focus was not solely on Sri Lanka, but also against perceived human rights abuses in other countries,” the cable added.

The South African intelligence, however, noted that “contact between local Tamil organisations in South Africa and similar organisations in other countries, including LTTE has been confirmed in the past, the exact nature and extent of these links and to what extent cooperation is currently taking place remains largely unclear.”.

(with inputs from The New Indian Express)