JVP leader Amarasinghe returns home

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 January 2004, 18:58 GMT]
Mr.Somawanse Amarasinghe Tuesday evening arrived in Katunayake international airport. Senior leaders of the Sinhala nationalist cum Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Messrs Tilvin Silva, Wimal Weerawanse, Nandana Gunathilaka and others received him, party sources said.

JVP volunteers provided tight security to Mr.Amarasinghe who returned to the island after about two years. After several years living in exile abroad Mr. Amarasinghe came to Sri Lanka on November 19, 2001 and he returned to London on December 5, five days before the 2001 general election, sources said.

Mr. Amarasinghe Tuesday landed in Colombo about seven hours after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), chief constituent of the main opposition Peoples' Alliance and the JVP, which is the third largest party in the current parliament.

Mr.Amarasinghe is scheduled to address the first rally organized by the newly formed political alliance United People Freedom Front (UPFF) next week, sources said.