Buddhist monks burn Norwegian flag

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 December 2002, 00:22 GMT]
National Bhikkhu Front (Jathika Sanga Sammelanaya- JSS), a Sinhala nationalist organisation of monks with branches in all the Sinhala majority districts of the island and a close ally of the marxist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) held a demonstration opposite Royal Norwegian Embassy in Colombo demanding the expulsion of Oslo's envoy to Sri Lanka, Mr. Jon Westborg, sources in Colombo said.

The Buddhist monks burnt two Norwegian flags opposite the embassy before they marched towards Presidential Secretariat where they handed over a memorandum addressed to Sri Lanka's President Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge.

Additional Secretary to the President Kumaratunge received the memorandum from the National Bhikkhu Front secretary Rev. Kalevelgale Chandaloka.

The protest was centered on the recent import of communication equipment by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the alleged Norwegian embassy's involvement in the matter.