AVANT GARDE-BOKO HARAM ARMS DEAL UNDER PROBE

AVANT GARDE-BOKO HARAM ARMS DEAL UNDER PROBE

By Zahrah Imtiaz-2015-04-04

The government is conducting investigations to either establish or dismiss suspicions of whether controversial Maritime Security services company Avant Garde has been supplying weapons to Nigerian terror group Boko Haram, Dr.Rajitha Senaratne revealed
at the Cabinet Media conference yesterday.
The probe into Avant Garde, suspected of dealing with various foreign governments because of cloudy issues relating to its floating armouries and security services, has now been expanded to cover suspected dealings with terror outfits in some African countries.

"We know that Avant Garde worked closely with the Nigerian Government and supplied them with arms. We are now examining the likelihood of Avant Garde having had dealings, including arms supplies, with Boko Haram" Dr. Senaratne said. The Ministry of External Affairs is in touch with the Nigerian Government with regard to possible weapons dealings.
Suspicions of Avant Garde's possible involvement in arms dealings with terror organizations surfaced after Sri Lanka's Ambassador to Moscow, Udayanga Weeratunga was accused by the Ukrainian Government of supplying weapons to Ukrainian rebels. "We cannot find the ambassador. We are looking for him and investigating how this man got hold of the weapons which he supplied to the Ukranian rebels. Given his close relationship with the Rajapaksa's and the government, we also think that he might have got the weapons through the firm Avant Garde and their floating armouries."

Meanwhile, Police are probing the death under mysterious circumstances of a man identified as Noel Ranaweera who was employed at the Lankan Envoy Weeratunga's Embassy Complex in Moscow and subsequently at a hotel in Moscow owned by Weeratunga. Ranaweera's body was flown down in June last year for burial but was exhumed Thursday under Court Order in a sequel to a complaint that includes a reference to Udyanga Weeratunga.

Minister Senaratne said Avant Garde Chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi had been a close associate of former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed who was recently imprisoned for 13 years by the Maldivian Courts on terrorism related allegations. Investigations into Avant Garde will also look into whether the company supplied the former Maldivian President with weapons.
The minister added that the subject pertaining to private organizations acquiring weapons through the government for re-sale to third parties was reeking with terror-related possibilities that the government has begun to probe. There's been no indication of any government post-sales follow-up to establish the sources to which private companies sell the weapons bought through a government agency.

Minister Senaratne said "the former Defence Secretary has affirmed that none of the weapons belong to the government. In that case where did they come from? We suspect them to have come from the LTTE". He added that the government had not kept any systematic record of weapons and gold collected from the LTTE, en masse, especially during the last stages of the war, when thousands of weapons of fallen LTTErs, arms caches, sophisticated multi-barrel weapons, gold and other valuables fell into government hands.

The Avant Garde Maritime Services website in the meantime carries a statement that says:
"Weapons are owned by the Sri Lanka Government, hence origin of weapons are indisputable. Each of these will be accompanied by an 'End User Certificate' issued by Ministry of Defence.
They will always be accompanied by a Sri Lankan Sea Marshal of Rakna Arakshaka Lanka (RALL) as custodian during passage of the ship. It is mandatory that these weapons are returned at any other location of the Closed Circuit Network, at which time, the Sri Lankan Sea Marshal disembarks".