<b>Hakeem assures Muslim Congress support to the Prime Minister </B>

T.Sabaratnam

Colombo July 9: The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) pledged to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, this morning, its continued support, after the Prime Minister assured it the safety and security of the Muslims in the Eastern province.

The SLMC rebels headed by ALM Athaullah and AR Abdul Cader were also present, when SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem told the Prime Minister that, they would not leave the government, or do anything to disturb the peace process.

Analysts say that, Athaullah’s group was sobered by the strong challenge posed by the UNP Muslim leadership to SLMC’s claim to be the sole representative and Hakeem’s claim to be the leader of the Muslims and the decision of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to join the government in case of an SLMC pull out. TNA has 15 MPs in parliament against SLMC’s 12.

The UNP Muslim leader Western Province Development Minister M. H. Mohammed told a press briefing this morning: “SLMC is not the sole representative of the Muslims… Hakeem is the leader of the SLMC. He is not the leader of the Muslims.” There are UNP, People’s Alliance and JVP Muslim parliamentarians.

M.H.Mohammed contested the right of the SLMC to negotiate with the government and the LTTE, on behalf of the Muslims and its attempt to participate at the forthcoming peace parley at Thailand, as the sole Muslim representative.

He denied the charge that, the LTTE was behind the clash and blamed a third force, that is opposed to the peace process, as the instigator of the clash. He said village level peace committees would be sufficient to sort out disputes.

The LTTE has denied having a hand in the clash. LTTE’s eastern leader Karikalan had assured Mohammed on Sunday that his organization would guarantee the safety of the Muslims.

Joseph Pararajasingham,a senior deputy president of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), one of the four parties that constitute the TNA said: “We will not permit the government that is working towards a political settlement of the Tamil problem to fall. We will join the government if SLMC quits.”

Similar views were expressed by the leaders of the other parties that formed the TNA.

The SLMC held two rounds of talks with the Prime Minister today. In the first round they presented a 9-point demand to ensure the safety of the Muslim people of the Eastern province.Br>

That included:

_ a demand for a separate interim administration for the Muslims,
- additional security for Muslim villages by the strengthening of the police stations,

- the retention of the army in Muslim areas,

- the prevention of the opening of the political offices by the LTTE in Muslim villages, and

- the reconstruction of destroyed Valaichchenai and the payment of compensation for the victims.

In the evening they discussed in detail, the steps to be taken to prevent the repetition of the Muslim- Tamil clash.

The Muslim Congress sources said that, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe agreed to strengthen the police stations in the Muslim areas and assured that all steps would be taken to prevent a repetition of the clash. He had also instructed the Urban Development Authority to rebuild the destroyed houses in the Valaichchenai town.

He asked the SLMC to take up the question about the prevention of the opening of the LTTE offices with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), which overseas the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed by the Sri Lanka Government and the LTTE. MOU provides for the opening of political offices by the LTTE. That was an arrangement intended to draw the LTTE into the political mainstream.

The Prime Minister has indicated, the sources said, that the question of setting up of a separate interim administration for Muslim majority areas should be discussed at the Thailand negotiations.

The SLMC will meet the Prime Minister and defence officials on Tuesday, to work out a scheme to step up the protection of Muslims.

In Parliament this morning the Opposition demonstrated against the LTTE, disrupting the proceedings for about 15 minutes. They demanded a statement from the government. Defence Minister Tilak Marapone said, an investigation about the Mutur and Valaichchenai incidents is on and he would make a statement once it is completed.

The SLMM chief Trond Furuhovide toured Batticoloa today to defuse the prevailing tension between the Muslims and Tamils. He will tour Mutur tomorrow.