Colombo, Dec 01: Sri Lanka's main Muslim political party has suspended its president and general secretary for leading a revolt, officials said today.
An official from the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) said president A L M Athaullah and A L M Hafrath, the general secretary, had been suspended by SLMC leader Rauf Hakeem.
Hakeem, who is currently in Oslo to attend peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels, had faxed suspension letters to both members from the Norwegian capital.

Athaullah, who is also minister of highways, led a revolt against Hakeem in October and refused to attend Parliament in defiance of the party, which is a coalition partner of the government headed by the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The SLMC has 12 seats in the 225-member Sri Lankan Parliament.

"In terms of the powers vested in me by the Constitution of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, I hereby suspend you from the membership of the party and all positions held in the party," said the letters from Hakeem, who is a member of the government's peace negotiating team.

Hakeem left for Oslo yesterday for the third round of talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) beginning tomorrow.

Athaullah and seven other SLMC legislators boycotted Parliament because they wanted assurances from Wickremesinghe on the safety of the Muslims in the multi-ethnic eastern province in the face of harassment by the Tamil rebels.
The move threatened the parliamentary majority of Wickremesinghe's coalition.

Bureau Report