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The Immigration and Refugee Board has ordered a Sri Lankan Tamil migrant to remain in custody after agreeing that the young man - one of 76 who sailed into Canadian waters last month - could have ties to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, viewed by Canada as a terrorist group.

The Canada Border Services Agency had been arguing that the men must be held until their identities are verified. Now, it has switched tactics, arguing that the migrants must be kept in custody while investigators determine whether some have links to the Tamil Tigers.

To back up this argument, the government has relied heavily on the assertions of a Singapore-based terrorism expert, who, citing unnamed sources in Canada, has provided written testimony alleging that some Tigers members may have been aboard the vessel that arrived at the West Coast on Oct. 17.

Professor Rohan Gunaratna has alleged that the migrant's vessel may have been used for gun-running by the Tigers. However, some defence lawyers have attacked Prof. Gunaratna's credibility, suggesting he's biased against Tamils.

But in an oral judgment delivered yesterday afternoon, adjudicator Lynda Mackie agreed these are reasonable suspicions, which must be further probed before the migrant can be released.

Ms. Mackie also defended Prof. Gunaratna's credentials.

"He is widely regarded as a terrorism expert in South Asia," she said.

The Canada Border Services agency also has evidence that one of its officials found traces of explosive residue on some clothing found on the ship. Residue from pentaerythritol tetranitrate, or PETN, which is also present in heart medication, was discovered, as was some TNT.

Ms. Mackie said the presence of PETN on clothing could be explained away, but the TNT troubled her.

The migrant, dressed in red prison-issue pants and shirt, was led into the hearing room in handcuffs and leg shackles. Under an IRB publication ban, he can't be identified. The hearing was conducted without a translator because the man speaks English.

Lawyer Lorne Waldman, who represents 15 of the migrants, said he was not surprised at the ruling, but warned that the men can't be kept in prison indefinitely.

In the meantime, Mr. Waldman said he disagrees with the government's use of Prof. Gunaratna as an expert witness. He plans to introduce a motion to cross-examine the professor at a detention hearing scheduled later this week for one of his clients.

"He's very controversial to say the least," Mr. Waldman said. "He often relies on unverifiable sources as the basis for the assertions that he makes. In the context of the Tamil Tigers, he's basically biased. He's clearly been associated with the Sinhalese [the Sri Lankan majority]cause for many, many years. And independent observers are convinced that he's not objective, especially in relation to the Tamil issue."

Mr. Waldman also said he wants to cross-examine the Canada Border Services Agency official who found the trace explosives.

Of the 76 men aboard the ship, all but one remain in custody. The migrants have stated that they intend to make refugee claims and many have relatives in Canada, most of them in the Toronto area. Detention hearings will continue this week in Vancouver

One of the migrants is wanted by Interpol on suspicions that he smuggled electronic equipment to the Tamil Tigers.

The Tigers are the military arm of the Tamil separatist movement that was at war with the Sri Lankan government for years. Earlier this year, the Sri Lankan government crushed the Tigers. In 2006, Canada labelled the Tigers a terrorist group, in part because it used suicide bombings to attack targets in the Sinhalese-dominated areas of the country.

Vancouver lawyer Lee Rankin, who has interviewed up to 40 of the migrants, said the men he spoke to expressed no allegiance to the Tigers. "They're like thousands of other Tamils who come to Canada and they feel vulnerable and insecure and even more so now with the military defeat of the LTTE," he said.

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