September 10, 2003	Wednesday	Rajab 12, 1424

WASHINGTON, Sept 9: Indian Muslims living in the United States have protested against the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to India at the invitation of their government, said a statement issued on Tuesday.

“We protest because he has converted Israel into a terrorist state and the occupied territories into a concentration camp,” said the statement issued jointly by several Indian Muslim advocacy groups

They alleged, “Mr Sharon shows no respect for the human or civil rights of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel or in the territories under its military occupation.”

“After demolishing the Oslo Accord, based on the principle of Land for Peace, he has succeeded in blocking the progress under Roadmap, through his excessive use of arms against an unarmed people; his intransigence on the question of Jewish settlements in Arab Palestine, his construction of security roads, watch towers and concrete walls therein, his refusal of delimitation of an internationally recognized and UN guaranteed border,” says the statement.

The Indian Muslim groups also accused him of “keeping Yasser Arafat, the unquestioned leader of the Palestinian people, as a virtual hostage.”

“He is regarded in many countries as a War Criminal for his brutalities and atrocities in Sabira and Chatila refugee camps and stands accused of crimes against humanity in several countries,” they added.