Muslims Protest Israel's First Envoy to Sri Lanka in 30 Years
COLOMBO, July 9 (News Agencies) - Sri Lanka's main Muslim party Monday condemned the appointment of Israeli's first ambassador in 31 years and accused President Chandrika Kumaratunga of using the ties to assist his government in pursuing a war on the island.
Israeli career diplomat David Matnai presented his credentials to President Kumaratunga on Friday, a year after the two countries announced the re-establishing of diplomatic relations.
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), a former ally of President Kumaratunga's government, accused her of restoring diplomatic relations with Israel while at the same time expressing solidarity with Palestinians.
The SLMC's walkout from the government on June 20 turned Kumaratunga's shaky coalition into a minority administration. The defection was unrelated to the Israeli issue.
SLMC's Hakeem was a member of Kumaratunga's government when it renewed full diplomatic ties with Israel after 30 years in May last year. Israel did not immediately reciprocate Colombo's appointment of an ambassador.
The move followed Colombo receiving military help from Israel to strengthen its fleet of ground attack aircraft and gunboats to beat back Tamil separatists at a time when neighboring India had refused to extend military assistance.
"The Zionist regime of Israel relies on its defense industry for survival and these merchants of war will never permit the civil war in our beloved motherland to cease," Hakeem said in a statement.
The re-establishment of full diplomatic relations "reveals the duplicity of the... government in its claim of advocating peace while implementing the agenda for prolonging the civil war," Hakeem said, referring to the government's battle against Tamil Tiger guerrillas in the island's northeast.
Hakeem's party made no public protests when Colombo announced ties with Israel in May last year, a day after India snubbed Sri Lanka over a request for military hardware to defend against a major rebel offensive.
Hakeem's defection to the opposition last month saw the main opposition presenting a no-confidence resolution against the government, to be debated and voted up on later this month.
Sri Lanka suspended full diplomatic relations with Israel in 1970 over its refusal to withdraw from the Palestinian territories. However, Colombo tried to re-establish relations since 1995, but was prevented by Muslim politicians.
