Agence France Presse last week revealed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a group listed by the US State Department as a terrorist organization, had illegally used an IntelSat platform to broadcast radio and television news overseas.
Intelsat officials, including technical experts, had met with the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United States Bernard Goonetilleke to discuss the steps the company was taking to halt the unauthorised use of its satellite.
“Intelsat does not tolerate terrorists or others operating illegally on its satellites,” the company’s general counsel Phillip Spector said.
“Since we first learned of the LTTE's signal piracy, we have been actively pursuing a number of technical alternatives to halt the transmissions,” Mr Spector said.
“We are clear in our resolve to ending this terrorist organisation's unauthorised use of our satellite.”
Tamil Tiger rebels have been fighting for a separate Tamil homeland in the northest of Sri Lanka and have been listed as a terrorist group by the US since 1997.
IntelSat and the Sri Lankan Embassy said the transmissions by the LTTE were a violation of both US and Sri Lankan law.
Following the discussion, Ambassador Goonetilleke said, “I am satisfied that Intelsat is taking these unauthorized transmissions very seriously, and believe it would do all that it can to stop the terrorist transmissions. I am confident that Intelsat will continue to cooperate with Sri Lankan authorities in this matter.”
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