September 25, 2002	Wednesday	Rajab 17, 1423

COLOMBO, Sept 24: Sri Lanka’s top Muslim minister said on Tuesday he would meet the head of the Tamil Tiger rebels to redress ethnic cleansing problems that had split the two communities and overshadowed talks to end the island’s civil war.

Muslim Affairs Minister Rauff Hakeem said at a news conference that he would meet Velupillai Prabhakaran soon to ease fears of Muslims that they would be left out of the peace talks in neutral Thailand.

“We can minimie our differences by bilateral discussions and make the main deliberations less complicated,” said Hakeem, one of four government delegates to the talks — the first in seven years to end a war that has killed 64,000 people.

Hakeem, leader of the Sri Lankan Muslim Congress, said the meeting date would be finalised after rebel spokesman Anton Balasingham arrived in northern Sri Lanka from his London base before the next round of talks planned for late October.

The government and separatist Tamil Tiger guerillas, fighting since 1983 for an independent ethnic Tamil state, concluded a first round of talks near Bangkok last week.

Both sides concluded the first round on a cordial note, without delving into hot-button issues, such as how ethnic Sinhalese and Muslims would fit into a future interim administration in the tiny island’s rebel-held north and east.

“I should say I’m cautiously optimistic...because you never know what lies ahead.” Hakeem said.

“It’s the first time our (Muslim) dimension has been included. It’s a very very explosive dimension, I can tell you.”

The Tigers, accused of brutality for driving about 100,000 Muslims from northern Jaffna province, have apologised for such treatment, but old scars remain.

The most recent Tamil-Muslim clashes on the island’s east coast in July killed at least 11 people.

Hakeem gave no details about what he would discuss with the reclusive Tiger leader, who did not attend the landmark talks, but said he aimed to protect the political future of Sri Lanka’s 1.5 million Muslims.

He added displaced Muslims want reparations from the Tigers and representation in the interim administration’s police force.

“The political aspirations of the Muslim community should not be subsumed by the political aspirations of the others,” he said.

“There has to be a compromise of conflicting interests. Although everyone wants to share power, the question is how we do it.”

Balasingham, the chief rebel negotiator, said in Thailand last week the group would settle for autonomy rather than a separate state as a last resort, prompting hopes the talks would end in a lasting settlement without splitting the country.—Reuters