National Patriotic Movement protests against SLMM

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 July 2005, 21:50 GMT]
Mort than three-thousand supporters of the National Patriotic Movement (NPM) protested in front of the Norwegian Embassy in Ward Place, Colombo, Monday against the slaying of three Sri Lankan Army (SLA) soldiers attached to the Intelligence Unit of 223 Brigade Head Quarters in Batticaloa last Thursday, sources in Colombo said. The National Patriotic Movement, a broad coalition of extreme Sinhala Buddhist nationalists, led by monk Ven. Elle Gunawansa Thero, also accused the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) for its failure to stop the killings.

Riot police armed with batons prevented the protestors from approaching the embassy premises, sources said.

The NPM activists handed over a memorendum to an official at the Royal Norwegian Embassy.

The memorandum also accused the members of the SLMM for not taking preemptive action to stop the killings.

NPM is a front of the marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and has drawn a wide cross section of Sinhala nationalists to its fold since the signing of Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) in February 2002.