Armed Muslim youth in East instructed to surrender their weapons

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 June 2009, 10:25 GMT]
Amid announcement by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Eastern Regional Commanding Officer Srinath Rajapakse at a gathering in Kaaththankudi, a traditional Muslim town in the Batticaloa district that all who possess illegal arms should surrender them to Sri Lankan military on or before July 2, Provincial Government Minister Mr.M.L.A.M.Hisbullah publicly acknowledged through media that Muslim youth took arms to help the Sri Lankan forces during the war against the Tigers.

He said, "I rule out that there was an armed uprising such as Jihad or anything similar as alleged by some elements. These youths helped the security forces during the war against terrorism. Now it is time for the Muslim youths to hand over the arms through Mosque Federations.

“There is no necessity for these Muslim youths to carry arms now. Therefore we welcome the government’s move. I have requested these Muslim youths to hand over their weapons to the security forces through the Mosque Federations,” Mr.Hisbullah said.

Those surrender their arms will not suffer any consequences. But those who possess arms after the amnesty period would be dealt under the law, SLA has warned.