UNP MP threatened in Sri Lanka Parliament over UK protests

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 December 2010, 05:20 GMT]
Tense situation is prevailing in Sri Lanka's parliament Thursday morning after the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) parliamentarians attempted to assault UNP MP Jayalath Jayawardena accusing him of instigating the protests in the United Kingdom against visiting Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa, parliamentary sources said.

After the wide coverage in the international media of a noisy protest by Tamil activists at the busy Heathrow airport on Mr Rajapakse's arrival Monday, the Oxford Union where Mr Rajapakse was scheduled to speak, cancelled the speaking event over fear of mounting protests against Rajapakse.

Meanwhile, Amnesty called for war crimes prosecution against Sri Lanka's President as Channel-4 released a new video showing extra judicial executions by Sri Lanka troops.

Rajapakse's woes were compounded as Wikileaks made public a cable from the US Embassy in Colombo saying "responsibility for many alleged crimes rests with the country's senior civilian and military leadership, including President Rajapaksa and his brothers and opposition candidate General Fonseka."