COLOMBO, May 7 (News Agencies) - Muslim men set fire to shops in northeastern Sri Lanka, the defense ministry said Monday as a key Muslim coalition party warned the government to contain the violence or risk losing its support.
The ministry said Muslim men had torched eight shops owned by Sinhalese in the town of Muttur overnight, but security forces had brought the situation under control.
Sinhalese are the national majority but they are a minority in the Muttur area of the Trincomalee district where Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims are almost in equal number.
The ministry said that in the neighboring district of Batticaloa there had been a protest by members of the Muslim community who set fire to tires along the road blocking traffic.
The reports of fresh unrest came as Sri Lanka's main Muslim party Monday demanded an independent panel to run the police and warned the government that it may withdraw its support after the mob violence that erupted last week.
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), a crucial partner in President Chandrika Kumaratunga's People's Alliance coalition government, said last week's attacks had been directed against the economy of minority Muslims.
"If this anti-Muslim trend is not arrested immediately, the SLMC will lose its moral obligation to continue its support to the government," the SLMC said in a statement after the party's high command met here on Sunday.
Dozens of shops and homes of Muslims were torched during rioting in a central Sri Lankan town on Wednesday. One man was killed and 20 others wounded when police tried to break up the mobs.
The violence spread to Colombo when Muslims retaliated and attacked police and public transport after Friday prayers.
The authorities slapped a 12-hour night curfew on the capital to curb the violence.
A Muslim politician from a party which opposes the SLMC was arrested and released on Sunday while more than a dozen remain in custody for their alleged involvement in mob violence here.
Kumaratunga has vowed tough action against anyone inciting inter-communal hatred and ordered a high-level inquiry to bring the offenders to justice.
The SLMC said it was calling for the establishment of an independent police commission to ensure that law enforcement was taken out of the hands of politicians.
There were allegations that police inaction in the central town of Mawanella led to the spreading of mob violence, which initially erupted over an extortion racket run allegedly with the blessings of a local politician.
