VANCOUVER - A man accused of trying to raise money for the terrorist Tamil Tigers was granted bail Tuesday, but his lawyer says he was working on behalf of a legitimate humanitarian organization.

Police and a terrorist expert, however, say the organization is a front.

The first man charged under Canada's terrorism fund-raising law was released on bail Tuesday after being arrested in the Vancouver area over the weekend.

Prapaharan Thambithurai, 45, of Maple, Ont., became the first man ever charged under Canada's law against raising money for a terrorist group, police say. He was released Tuesday on a $25,000 bond.

He was picked up earlier this week in suburban New Westminster and charged with soliciting money for the banned Tamil Tigers, the armed independence group fighting a bloody insurgency against the government of Sri Lanka.

As part of his bail, he has been ordered not to make contact with several potential witnesses in the case, said Supt. Lloyd Plante of the RCMP's Integrated National Security Enforcement Team in B.C.

Thambithurai's lawyer, Richard Peck, said his client installs satellite dishes for a living.

Thambithurai refused to comment on the charge as he left court Tuesday afternoon to return to his family in Ontario, but he lashed out at reporters for covering his case but ignoring the human rights abuses suffered by Tamils.

Thambithurai was arrested Sunday after a quick, intense investigation that began last Thursday, Plante said.

"Our investigation is still active, but as far as additional arrests, I'm sorry but I can't specifically comment on that.''

Plante wouldn't provide details of what Thambithurai is alleged to have done.

The RCMP release said he was charged under the Criminal Code section that makes it a crime to provide property, financial or other services knowing they will be used to benefit a terrorist group. The charge carries a maximum 10-year sentence.

Peck told reporters outside court his client was raising money for the World Tamil Movement, which he said was a legitimate humanitarian organization.

But law enforcement considers the group to be a front for the Tamil Tigers, which the federal government placed on a list of banned terrorist organizations two years ago.

"That's what the allegation will be, yes,'' said Plante.

A call to the movement's Toronto-area office produced only a recording of someone giving a speech in Tamil.

A former agent for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service who specialized in tracking Asian terror groups said the Tigers have a long history of extorting money from expatriate Tamils, of which there are about 250,000 in Canada.

"We had decades of threats against the community, people who were literally told `if you don't give 10 to 15 per cent of your annual revenues to the cause, we'll either burn your house, break your leg, break and arm, burn your business' or something like this,'' said Michel Juneau-Katsuya, now a security consultant with Ottawa-based Northgate Group.

"They terrorized their own community for over a decade.''

Tamil-Canadians, most of whom live in the Toronto area, were cowed into silence about the practice, he said.

"If the victims started to talk, reprisals would go against their own family and if it wasn't a family right here in Canada, it would be the family back in Sri Lanka,'' Juneau-Katsuya said.

Banning the Tigers helped suppress their activity but not eliminate it, Plante said.

"I wouldn't want to comment about the level that it's at but certainly the information we have is that the activity is still carrying on.''

A spokesman for the Canadian Tamil Congress, which says it is the main voice of Tamils here, said Thambithurai is not a member of their group.

"This name doesn't ring the bell to us, no,'' said David Poopalapillai.

He said the World Tamil Movement is not banned in Canada despite claims it's a terrorist front.

"We do know to a certain level they have a library they're building that's the largest Tamil library in North America,'' Poopalapillai said. "They also hold sports meets, cultural gatherings and things like that.''

When the Tigers were banned, the Congress mounted a publicity campaign urging Tamil-Canadians to report any extortion attempts to the police.

"We have very high faith in our law-enforcement officials,'' Poopalapillai said. "If we go to them, they know how to protect us.

"Don't be afraid. This is Canada, get up and go. So far no one has come forward to our knowledge.''

Poopalapillai doubts the extortions ever happened.

"That story, it didn't have any legs,'' he said.

Canadian Tamils are deeply sympathetic to the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka, whom Poopalapillai said have been mistreated by the Sinhalese-controlled government since the country achieved independence six decades ago.

"On the other hand, Tamils are very law-abiding citizens,'' he said.

"In Canada, it's very legal to talk about independence, homeland, and to argue on the cause. But if the Canadian government says OK, today giving money is illegal, people won't do that. We wouldn't cross the line.''