No ethnic cleansing as long as Mahinda Rajapaksa is President - MNA

COLOMBO: Reacting to the violence in Muttur, Presidential Advisor and Muslim National Alliance (MNA) Secretary General Nazeer Ahamed in a media release said, the LTTE should be held responsible for the bloody violence in the East, which had claimed over 150 lives of innocent civilians, many of whom were children.

Secretary General Ahamed said that he believed the LTTE had worked to a well-planned strategy to ethnically cleanse Muttur of Muslims similar to the manner in which they did the same thing in Jaffna. "Muslims had lived in Jaffna for generations, but today you don't find any living there.

The LTTE ethnically cleansed Jaffna of all Muslims," he said. Ahamed said, it was only a few weeks ago the LTTE apologised for the crime and now the same group was repeating the same exercise in Muttur.

Ahamed said, the LTTE used the Muttur civilians as human shields knowing fully well they would suffer when the SLA countered their attack. This, he claimed was a war crime and the international community should take serious note of this breach: He said once again the LTTE had used Muslim civilians as cannon fodder.

The Armed Forces came in for praise in the media release for their restraint. "I must say this," said the Presidential Advisor 'the Sri Lanka Army took extra caution to prevent civilian casualties and the Army must be commended for the manner in which safe passage and protection was provided for the fleeing civilians."

Alluding to remarks made by the SLMC leader, Ahamed said, he was disappointed and felt these remarks were made to gain cheap publicity.

He also said there was no need for an elected Muslim leader to take the role of a spokesman for the LTTE.

Praising the Muttur Muslims for their resolve to go back to their homes Ahamed said President Mahinda Rajapaksa would not rest until the issue was resolved and the Muslims were allowed to go back. "I am certain the President and his pro-people Government would adequately compensate all the civilians who had suffered in this latest outbreak of violence," he said.

"The Muslims of Jaffna are still languishing in refugee camps' and the then Government did not do anything for their return.

The Muttur Muslims don't want the same fate to fall on them and I can assure all Sri Lankans there will be no ethnic cleansing at all as long as Mahinda Rajapaksa is President of the country. "I say this because I have the utmost confidence in the President," Ahamed said.

Praising the President, the MNA leader said, he had stood tall in this conflict and no amount of provocation by the LTTE or political parties could shake his resolve to bring peace to the country.

Nazeer Ahamed lashed out at the international community claiming that when Muslims were affected in the conflict in Sri Lanka there was not even a whimper of protest from them.

"But if any other community is affected they would be the first to howl in protest," he said.