MPs in row over pro-LTTE rally

The Sri Lankan High Commission here has strongly protested over the presence of three Labour MPs, including Keith Vaz , the high-profile Asian MP from Leicester, and Virendra Sharma from Ealing Southall, at a rally in support of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) although the organisation is banned under Britain’s terror laws.

Joan Ryan, the third Labour MP present at the event, is ironically an outspoken supporter of the government’s controversial anti-terrorism policy. Mr Vaz, on the other hand, has often criticised the government for overlooking human rights considerations in the name of fighting terror.

The rally, organised by the Tamil National Remembrance Foundation, to pay homage to LTTE activists killed in clashes with Sri Lankan security forces, also received messages of “support” from London Mayor Ken Livingstone and the Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes, according to TamilNet, the worldwide pro-LTTE website.

The rally’s highpoint was a “live” televised “Heroes’ Day” address by the LTTE chief, Velupillai Prabakaran, who urged “the entire Tamil-speaking world” to rise up.

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http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/09/stories/2007120953881200.htm