Mannar, Jaffna Bishops meet SL President

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 May 2006, 11:46 GMT]
Rev. Fr. Rayappu Joseph, Bishop of Mannar, and Rev. Fr. Thomas Saundaranayagam, Bishop of Jaffna, met Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse Tuesday in Colombo, and discussed the ground situation in the Northeast, sources in Colombo said.

The Bishops expressed their concern on the increasing number of civilian killings and the displacement of people from northeast seeking security elsewhere, sources said.

The Bishops appealed to Mr Rajapakse to take steps to initiate talks between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lanka Government immediately, and also to make all efforts to stop the killings of civilians, sources close to the Bishops said.