Hisbullah's decision hasty, says Salley

BY CHAMIKARA Weerasinghe

FOUNDER member of the National Unity Alliance and Chairman of Islamic Solidarity Front of North America, Riyaz Salley yesterday described their Alliance Deputy Leader M. L. A. M. Hisbullah's decision to pull out support for the Government, as hasty and which smacks of ingratitude.

Salley said he was surprised that Hisbullah went as far as to issue a 48-hour ultimatum to their Leader Ferial Ashraff at short notice, asking her to follow suit with him to quit the Government.

"Hisbullah's action stands to reason in that he was trying to get political mileage over the issue surrounding the P-TOMS signed between the Government and the LTTE amidst a tense political atmosphere," he said.

Hisbullah is reported to have decided to leave the Government on account of omission of Muslims in the signing of the P-TOMS agreement.

Salley explained that the P-TOMS was signed between parties controlling areas, that is to say a party from the Government controlled area and the LTTE controlled area.

"This does not mean that the agreement had ignored the Muslim community," Salley explained.

He said it was only the PA and UPFA regimes which have served the Muslim community under President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's leadership.

Leave aside Hisbullah, the President had risked her political career by signing this agreement, he said.

Hisbullah's decision to leave the Government had come at a time that the country should in fact salute the President for setting up the P-TOMS for the country's benefit.

"It was wrong to doubt that the UPFA would overlook the problems of the Muslims in this all important tsunami aid deal just because it was signed between the Government and the LTTE," he said.