Sri Lanka Muslims demand separate delegation in peace talks

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 February 2006, 17:41 GMT]
The Muslim Peace Secretariat (MPS) Tuesday made an appeal that a separate Muslim delegation should be allowed not only to participate in the Geneva peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) scheduled to be held in February 22 and 23 but also in the future talks on resolving the national conflict, media sources said.

The participation of a separate Muslim delegation in the peace talks would contribute much for the success of the peace process and to solve problems facing the Muslims in the eastern province, MPS said.

Meanwhile Mr.A.H.M.Fowzie, senior minister in the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government said Monday that a Muslim representative to attend the Geneva peace talks will be nominated at a meeting of all Muslim parliamentarians scheduled to take place Tuesday in the parliamentary complex.

Mr.Faiz Mustapha, senior lawyer and a former diplomat who was appointed by President Mahinda Rajapakse in the government peace delegation last week withdrew in favor of a representative from eastern Muslims, sources said.