Sri Lanka's Interior minister visits Kinniya

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 October 2003, 17:31 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Interior Minister, Mr.John Amaratunge, Tuesday evening visited Kinniya in the Trincomalee district and inspected the residences of three Muslim parliamentarians of the district that had been damaged by Muslim mobs due to the recent unrest that prevailed over the abduction of a cart and tractors belonging to Muslims by unknown persons last week, sources said.

Minister Amaratunge was accompanied by the acting Inspector General of Police, Mr.Indra de Silva, Interior Ministry Secretary Mr.M.N.Junaid, Sri Lanka Army and police high officials, and Mr.M.A.M.Maharoof, the United National Front parliamentarian of the district, sources said.

Later, the visiting Minister attended a conference held at the Trincomalee office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and gave a patient hearing to the views expressed by a delegation of the Kinniya Jemiyathummal Ulama Council. The SLMM’s Trincomalee head, Mr.Abdel Burkan, was present at the discussion, sources said.

At the end of discussion, Mr. Amaratunge assured the Kinniya Muslim religious leaders that he would place all facts submitted by them before the Prime Minister, sources said.

Meanwhile, the cart and two tractors alleged to have been abducted by unknown persons have been recovered and handed over to the owners, police sources said.