Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said the re-emergence of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam remained the foremost threat to the country's national security, reported Ceylon Today.
Speaking on national security at an event organised by the Organisation of Professional Associations, Rajapaksa said "extremist elements" in the Tamil diaspora remain committed to achieving a separate Eelam, with LTTE-linked groups having success in the international arena.
"They continue to fund political groups promoting the separatist ideology whilst in the democratic mainstream, and they continue to try and restart armed conflict within the country," he said.
The defence secretary further said that the Global Tamil Forum has been successful in influencing a number of politicians from political parties in European countries as well as the US, Australia, Canada and India to support the "separatist cause", and has "courted" officials in organisation such as the UN, the EU and various INGOs to gain their support.