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Lankan Muslims do not want a part of Eelam

Sri Lankan Muslim Congress, a powerful partner in the Chandrika Kumaratunga government, has rejected outright the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's offer to extend Tamil Eelam to the Muslims, saying the party was for devolution within a united Sri Lanka.

Earlier, in a major shift in its stance, the LTTE had stated that Tamil Eelam belongs to Muslims and Tamils, and both should work towards strengthening the relations between the two communities.

"Muslims of Sri Lanka are not for the disintegration of the country. They do not subscribe to the theory of Tamil Eelam," said two senior leaders of the SLMC.

Some of the Muslims who were driven out of Jaffna in 1990 by the LTTE, continue to live in refugee camps in other parts of the country.

Minister M H H Ashraff said, "Muslims are not for any Eelam." Deputy Minister A L M Hisbulla said his party was ready to discuss the permanent merger of the northern and eastern parts of Lanka under 'certain conditions', but have nothing to do with Eelam.

On the proposed interim council for the north-east, he said, "We have yet to decide on matters concerning the north and east."

UNI

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