SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT ALLEGES TAMIL TIGERS PREPARING FOR CHEMICAL WARFARE

On August 12, 2007, Sri Lankan police arrested several smugglers at a checkpoint in Anuradhapura, a city in northern Sri Lanka. The individuals had failed at an attempt to bribe local officials to allow them to proceed on their journey. The arrested men were found to be driving a dump truck carrying 3,600 liters (approximately 951 gallons) of sulfuric acid. The acid was allegedly intended for use by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in preparations for chemical warfare directed at Sri Lankan security forces. [1]

On August 25, 2007, the first published report on the incident drew attention to the alleged existence of an underground toxicological laboratory, the LTTE’s possession of “stocks of Cyanide and Potassium,” and past incidents of alleged use of chemical weapons by the LTTE. [2] The account also hinted at connections, including the sharing of weapons technology, between the LTTE and al-Qaeda. [3] Initial newspaper reports were reinforced by a Sri Lankan Defense Ministry press release repeating the details of the incident and asserting that “intelligence sources states [sic.] that [the] LTTE is planning massive genocide in the future” because of a series of setbacks and defeats. [4] On August 28, an LTTE military spokesperson rejected the allegations saying: “This talk of chemical warfare is rubbish. It is not how we operate. It is true we are in a war, but we would not resort to something like that, but we will come up with new strategies to fight the war.” [5]

Sri Lanka authorities did not respond to this statement, but in early September, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka told parliament that “[w]e have evidence the Tamil Tigers have plans to use chemical weapons against the Sri Lankan security forces.” [6] Despite the vehemence of their allegations, Sri Lankan authorities have not provided any further evidence beyond the seized truck. Furthermore there have been no allegations of chemical weapons use by the LTTE in any of the battles that took place in 2007. Thus, many questions remain as to the credibility of the charges that the group has launched a chemical warfare program.

The Sri Lankan Civil War
The civil war in Sri Lanka is driven by the ethno-nationalist secessionist goals of the LTTE. The struggle, which has run since 1983, has been punctuated by several short cease-fires, the longest of which was associated with the peace process of 2002 to 2005. Following the breakdown of peace talks in 2005, hostilities resumed in 2006. [7] In addition to engaging in a relatively conventional military struggle for control of Sri Lanka’s north and east, the LTTE has also carried out terrorist bombings and assassinations that have resulted in large numbers of civilian deaths. Since September 2001, the LTTE has found itself in a changed environment, as the United States and other nations have shown reduced tolerance for groups designated as terrorists. In 2006, Canada and the European Union listed the LTTE as a banned terrorist organization; both had previously been safe havens for the LTTE. [8] At the same time, the Sri Lankan government has improved its relations with foreign nations and has obtained increased support from the United States for its efforts to defeat the LTTE as part of the wider war on terrorism. [9]

Earlier Charges of LTTE Chemical Warfare
Accounts of the LTTE’s use of chemicals in warfare date back to 1989. The first recorded incident is an allegation that the leaders of a rival Tamil organization, the Council of the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) was poisoned when cyanide was placed in their food. [10] In the early 1990s, several additional incidents were reported; these incidents involved the use of cyanide poisoned knives, booby-traps, and food. The most important events were the use of chlorine gas canisters in a June 1990 attack on a military camp and two attacks against military outposts using chemical-containing mortar shells in 1995. [11] None of these attacks appears to have been particularly effective, and there were no further reported attempts at large scale chemical attacks after November 1995, although reports of poisoning efforts continued. [12]

As tensions between the LTTE and the government escalated in late 2005 and early 2006, reports started to circulate that the LTTE was making preparations for chemical warfare. There were dark hints about “special weapons” and claims that funds raised from the Tamil diaspora were being used to “purchase military hardware that could be termed weapons of mass destruction (WMD).” [13] It was further noted that, “Tamil sources believe that the next offensive of the Tamil Tigers will use WMDs to ‘shock and awe’ the public and the Security Forces. The introduction of WMDs is expected to force the Sri Lankan government to surrender.” [14]

On July 12, 2006, shortly before the final breakdown of the ceasefire and resumption of full hostilities, the Asian Tribune published a report was published alleging that the LTTE was manufacturing its “special weapons” at a “toxicological laboratory housed in two floors underground” in the LTTE-controlled Vanni region. [15] The “special weapon” was identified as a “new chemical weapon designed to stun the victims.” [16] The report also claimed that “Pro-LTTE Sri Lankan chemical experts and engineers who worked in Western countries are said to be the brains behind the building of the lab as well as the toxicological products.” [17]

LTTE Chemical Weapons or Something Else?
The most recent series of allegations of chemical warfare preparations by the LTTE build upon the 2006 reports. They presume the existence of the laboratory and the intent to manufacture chemical weapons in bulk. Both the 2006 and 2007 reports quote an expert, Dr. Peter Chalk of Queensland University, who notes that the Tamil Tigers have used chemicals in the past. [18] At no point in the quote does Dr. Chalk make a statement about current operations.

The 2006 and 2007 claims that the LTTE is producing chemical weapons lack credibility when compared with alternative explanations for the incidents cited. Referring to an advanced explosive that sucks air from its targets and generates massive fireballs and high blast overpressure, the January 2006 report anticipates the possible use of “thermobaric weapons against the security forces.” [19] It is possible that these are the “special weapons” that the LTTE was allegedly attempting to produce or acquire, rather than classic chemical weapons. In the July 2006 report, thermobaric weapons are no longer mentioned at all, instead “special weapons” and chemical weapons are directly associated without any clear basis for the connection.

The primary piece of new evidence offered in the August 2007 report is the attempt to smuggle 3,600 liters of sulfuric acid into LTTE-controlled territory. The report draws links between this incident and the alleged existence of an underground laboratory to show that the LTTE is planning chemical attacks in the near future. However, a more plausible explanation of this incident is that the acid was intended for the manufacture of conventional explosives, most probably TNT, either as an end-product or for subsequent mixture to produce other military explosives. [20] Assuming that an underground facility does exist, this interpretation would imply that this facility is being used for the manufacture of explosives rather than chemical weapons. This simpler explanation appears the more likely given that the arrested men, according to the key report on the incident, had “past records of smuggling explosives to LTTE controlled areas.” [21]

The historical examples of the LTTE using chemicals in a manner that merits the use of the term “chemical weapons” are the series of incidents in 1995 and 1996. However, these incidents involved the use of an unmodified industrial chemical. If, as the Sri Lankan reports seek to imply, the LTTE is drawing on the lessons of al-Qaeda operations, the most likely course of action would be to attempt the release of large quantities of chlorine gas, a tactic employed by al-Qaeda in Iraq. (See “Chlorine as a Terrorist Weapon in Iraq,” WMD Insights, May 2007.) It may also be significant that despite suffering a series of serious setbacks in 2007, the LTTE has not used its alleged stock of chemical weapons to ward off defeat.

Conclusion
The most recent allegations of a LTTE chemical warfare threat came as the Sri Lankan military was preparing for a new offensive against the LTTE, which was launched on September 1, 2007. In addition, the Sri Lankan government was attempting to secure parliamentary approval to extend the emergency regulations that grant the government extra powers to suppress the LTTE insurgency. [22] The most likely explanation for the current series of allegations is that it was an attempt by the Sri Lankan government to secure a propaganda advantage over the LTTE and sustain the support of foreign governments in suppressing LTTE supply networks. (For examples in other separatist conflicts of one side seeking to gain advantage by accusing the other of using chemical weapons, see “Kurdish Political Party Alleges Turkish Military Using Chemical Weapons” in this issue of WMD Insights, and “Balochi Separatists Rekindle Accusations of Pakistani Use of Chemical Weapons,” WMD Insights, September 2007.)

Markus Binder – MKB Consulting