He said they are already in receipt of reports from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Coalition to Stop Child Soldiers forwarded by the Metropolitan Police.

A spokesman for the British Metropolitan Police informed The Sunday Leader that several agencies are involved in considering a coordinated effort to file charges against Karuna on the basis of available evidence. "It is being considered at this time. Several agencies are involved and I can only confirm that the Metropolitan Police is one of them. I cannot comment further as this is a sensitive process," he declared.

The renegade LTTE deputy was on Friday sentenced by Judge Hezlett Colgan of the Islworth Crown Court to nine months imprisonment for violating the UK ID Card Act of 2006 after pleading guilty to charges a week prior to entering the UK on a forged diplomatic passport. Karuna's conviction follows his arrest by the British Borders and Immigration Agency on November 2, 2007, as exclusively reported by our sister paper The Morning Leader, for entering the United Kingdom on diplomatic passport number D1944260 issued under a false name, Kokila Gunawardena.

Karuna's passport bore his photograph and the name 'Kokila Dushmantha Gunawardena' and the visa application facilitated by the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry through a Third Party Note (TPN) falsely declared him as being the Director General of the Wildlife Conservation Department. Mounting evidence that Karuna's passport was not forged but instead issued by Sri Lankan authorities has caused a strain in relations between Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.

It is learnt that Karuna himself has testified to UK authorities on the circumstances by which he was issued his diplomatic passport. By pleading guilty to charges, Karuna was able to avoid the prospect of a long drawn out case where the swelling amount of evidence against him could be produced in court which would have also been a source of embarrassment to the Sri Lankan government.

Given the possibility of the Sri Lankan government's complicity in Karuna's illegal migration, the Metropolitan Police were hesitant to commit to extraditing Karuna to Sri Lanka after he has served his sentence.

"Under the circumstances, an extradition request received from the Sri Lankan government would need to be carefully considered," warned the spokesman, who confirmed that no such request has yet been received.