Sri Lankan Muslim Leader to Meet Tamil Rebel Chief Negotiator

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, April 07, 2002

Sri Lankan Muslim Leader to Meet Tamil Rebel Chief Negotiator

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Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauf Hakeem will meet chief negotiator and political advisor of separatist Tamil Tiger rebels Anton Balasingham next Wednesday, a SLMC press release said on Saturday.

It said that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels have conveyed the invitation for the meeting through Norwegian ambassador to Sri Lanka Jon Westborg.

The LTTE rebels have admitted that their expulsion of thousands of minority Muslims from northern Jaffna peninsula in 1990 was an unjustifiable political blunder and promised to resettle them in the area when normalcy is restored.

Balasingham was quoted by Tamilnet website on Friday as saying on Wednesday in the northern rebel-held area that the rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is willing to meet Muslim leaders in Vanni to discuss and resolve all issues affecting the Muslim people in the northeast of the country.

Muslims account for about seven percent of the total population of the country and most of those expelled from Jaffna peninsula have been living as refugees in the north and east.

There are reports that Muslims have been harassed by the LTTE rebels since the signing of the ceasefire agreement between the government and the rebels on February 22, which is considered violation of the agreement.

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