Sri Lankan PM Says Muslim Security is a Concern

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, August 30, 2003

Sri Lankan PM Says Muslim Security is a Concern

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Friday that the safety of the Muslim minority is a concern in the stalled peace process with the Tamil Tiger rebels.

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Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Friday that the safety of the Muslim minority is a concern in the stalled peace process with the Tamil Tiger rebels.

"The safety of the Muslims is a concern. We have to take steps to safeguard them." Wickremesinghe said while addressing a religious ceremony in the capital Colombo suburb of Kadawata.

Wickremesinghe's comments came after a series of incidents concerning the safety of the Muslims in the country's multi-ethniceastern region early this month.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels were blamed for at least five killings of Muslims, abduction and assault of several others.

The incidents sparked off widespread protests by the Muslims inthe east.

The government has recruited 550 Muslims to the national policeforce as a move to allay fears of the Muslims in the area but the move drew sharp criticism from the Tamil political parties.

The Muslims, the second largest minority community after Tamil group, dominate the east of the country.

Meanwhile, the chief of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, the international truce monitoring group, Tryggve Tellefsen met Defense Secretary Austin Fernando after the latter's tour to the east to request adequate security to the troubled eastern region.

The Norwegian-brokered peace process aimed at ending the country's long drawn out ethnic conflict is currently stalled due to the decision by the LTTE rebels to pull out of the peace talks with the government in April. Both sides had held six rounds of peace talks since last September.

The rebels met their constitutional and legal experts in Paris earlier this week to consider government proposals for an interim administration to be set up in the north and east.

The rebels said that they would submit their counter proposals to the government in the next few weeks and the government has said that the talks could be resumed in September.

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