england also demonstrates very strongly that terrorists and terrorism are not a threat only to the country where the actual terror is unleashed but, indeed, to every other peoples, countries and economies as well. so, it is imperative that we treat terrorists, their allies, sympathizers, and associates, with the same yard stick, and not get fooled by some of the sugar coated pills in which blatant and horrendous acts of terrorism are sometimes cleverly packaged and presented. what are the other manifestation of these organized funding schemes? we, in the south asian region, are conscious of the unofficial banking systems that operate, like the hawala and hundi, which pose a serious threat to our efforts to close the avenues available to money launderers and terrorists. these underground banking services provide the ideal framework and the means for laundering of money and financing terrorism. it has just been reported that the indian income tax department early this year, busted a money - laundering racket during a routine investigation into hawala transactions. from the information unearthed so far, they have discovered that transworld ict was only a front for a huge money laundering scam. in this scam, a certain delhibased businessman, is said to have, by himself, remitted us $ 1. 4 billion between january and july 2006 " as proceeds of software business " through transworld ict solutions, which essentially worked as an illegal clearing house. we are of course, mindful of the efforts of the international standardsetters and watchdogs, to deal with these situations. they work tirelessly to review and recommend the preventive measures needed to be taken in this regard. they attempt to harmonize legislation and the regulatory tools which become imperatives, worldwide, against financial crime and terrorist financing. at the same time, let us not forget that terrorists too, learn from each other. sometimes the learning and co - operation may be direct. at other times, it could be indirect. perhaps they too, have workshops like what we are having today. on 31st january 1996, tamil terrorist suicide cadres drove a 500 kg. explosive laden commercial truck into the central bank of sri lanka building. about 5 ½ years later, on 11th september 2001, al quaeda terrorist suicide cadres piloted 2 jet fuel laden commercial air crafts into the wtc twin towers in new york. the scale and the means employed may have been different, in the two instances. but the method was similar. so, let us

the financing of crime and terrorism is one of the most important dimensions of the physical violent acts unleashed by terrorists in the form of suicide bomb attacks, killing of innocent civilians, etc. this realization should confirm to us that very often we may be able to, through our collaborative efforts, prevent acts of terrorism by preventing the financing of crime and terrorism. if we can do that effectively, perhaps more than three fourths of the battle may be won. without finances to equip themselves with sophisticated arms, intelligence, equipment, skills, machinery and techniques, terrorism will surely be on the wane. this then, is a fact that we must always be mindful of. 9 / 11 shocked the world. at the same time, it also united the world in its quest to defeat terrorism and eradicate financing of terrorism. post 9 / 11, the whole world has renewed its battle against, this ever growing threat of terrorism. until then, in a sad sort of a way, we in sri lanka, used to think that we were fighting this battle alone. but today, the many international conventions and the resultant resolutions that have taken place, post 9 / 11 to which we have all become signatories, consolidates our international obligations in the fight against terrorism. that indicates to us, that we are not alone in this struggle. in fact, today, we witness a closing of ranks amongst all the countries of the world to fight terrorism. while these efforts are commendable, all of us would also have to grudgingly admit that, notwithstanding the enhanced global counter - measures, terrorism worldwide is still on the increase. according to a us report released recently, an increase of 29 % has been recorded last year in worldwide terror attacks, which have become even deadlier. as a result, global terrorism deaths have recorded a 40 % increase last year. in afghanistan alone which is represented here at this forum, the number of terror attacks have almost doubled. the self destruction in the form of suicide bombers that sri lanka ’ s tamil terrorists launched in recent times, have now become commonplace in many parts of the world. such incidents are almost a daily occurrence, making human life a cheap commodity as a means to an end in the armoury of terrorists. in the meantime, the economic effects of terrorism in almost all our countries, is also becoming very challenging. in this regard, the recent air attacks by tiger terrorists may have opened a new chapter in the book of international terrorism. if unchecked