Malay Tamil MPs condemn killing of Lankan civilians

Kuala Lumpur, May 25 (ANI): Several Malay Tamil lawmakers from both sides of the political divide joined hands with hundreds of people in Batu Caves on Sunday to condemn the killing of Tamil civilians in the war in northern Sri Lanka.

They condemned the civilian casualties in the battle between the Sri Lankan army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The Star quoted Deputy Federal Territories Minister M. Saravanan as saying that the rally was not to support any militant group but to show concern for innocent civilians.

Among those present were Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam, Teluk Intan MP M. Manogaran and MIC Youth adviser S. Vel Paari. The protest, which began at 10am, ended peacefully three hours later.

In Georgetown, Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Malaysia, Dr D.D. Ranasinghe, expressed disappointment with the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) for asking Malaysia to withdraw support for Colombo's bid to quash Western censure of alleged human rights abuses.

"The MIC must have been given an inaccurate description of the civil war. It should stay out of Sri Lanka's affairs," he said after attending the Penang Heritage Trust annual Living Heritage awards.

He was commenting on MIC president S. Samy Vellu's call to the Government to withdraw its backing for Sri Lanka's move to stop a Western attempt to censure its human rights record during the war against the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Samy Vellu also stated that a war tribunal should be formed to bring the "war criminals" to justice.

Dr Ranasinghe said the Sri Lankan government was suffering from a perception problem due to biased media organisations. (ANI)