SINGAPORE, Nov 3, 2009 (AFP) - A Singaporean opposition party member will be extradited to the United States and tried for allegedly trying to supply arms to Sri Lanka's defeated Tamil Tiger rebels, officials here said Tuesday.
Businessman Balldev Naidu, 47, is facing six charges including conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation and possession of a firearm in 2006, a court official told AFP.
The Singapore Police said Naidu was arrested on September 22 following a US extradition request.
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He is alleged to have conspired with another Singaporean, Haniffa Osman, now serving a 37-month US jail term for trying to buy weapons for the Tamil Tigers, who were routed by Sri Lankan troops in May, the Straits Times reported.
The newspaper added that the US charges correspond to Singapore's laws against financing of terrorist groups.
Naidu is a founding member of Singapore's opposition Reform Party but its secretary-general Kenneth Jeyaretnam said Tuesday that the US charges involved alleged activities before the party was set up in 2008.
He described Naidu as "a gentle family man and someone who would never intentionally become involved with terrorists or arms dealers."
"In a way, it is for the best that he should be extradited speedily to the US so that this matter can be resolved as soon as possible," Jeyaretnam said.
"I have confidence in the US judicial system which, unlike Singapore, provides for court-appointed legal representation and trial by jury. Balldev has maintained his innocence throughout and I am hopeful that when this goes to trial he will be fully exonerated."
Singapore has been home to a close-knit Tamil minority since British colonial days and hosts thousands of workers from Sri Lanka and southern India. Tamil is one of Singapore's official languages.
Sri Lankan troops destroyed the leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May, ending one of Asia's longest-running insurgencies.
The Tamil Tigers, as they were popularly known, had been campaigning since 1972 for a separate homeland for the island's Tamil minority and drew support from members of the overseas Tamil community.
