Pro-war Buddhist monks in scuffle
Pastor Dale Morgan
Pro-war Buddhist monks in scuffle*
Thursday, August 17, 2006 Posted: 1242 GMT (2042 HKT)
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (Reuters) -- A scuffle broke out Thursday between
saffron-robed monks and anti-war demonstrators at peace rally in Sri
Lankan capital.
About six or seven monks from a right-wing Buddhist faction had stormed
the stage during a peace rally attended by about 1,000 people in the
capital, Colombo, shouting pro-war slogans, an AP reporter at the scene
said.
A member of Sri Lanka's parliament was addressing the crowd when the
monks climbed on stage.
The monks unfurled banners reading "Take your protest to Kilinochchi,"
referring to the de facto rebel capital in northern Sri Lanka where
hundreds have been killed in the last week.
Angry protesters then pulled the monks from the stage and burned their
banners, local television showed. There were no reported injuries.
Sri Lanka has been engulfed in more than two decades of civil war as
rebel Tamil Tigers battle government forces for an independent homeland
in the north and east.
At least 65,000 people are known to have died before a cease-fire in
2002, many of them civilians.
The cease-fire has done little to stem the bloodshed in the north and
east, and a blast Monday in Colombo that killed seven people has stoked
fears that the capital would once again be drawn into the cross-fire.
The monks, which have their own political party and wield tremendous
influence among Sri Lanka's predominantly Buddhist population, have
campaigned against peace talks with the rebels.
The rally was organized by the National Anti War Front and backed by
several dozen religious, political and other high-profile personalities
in the arts and entertainment world. They called on the Tamil Tigers and
the government to adhere to the cease-fire and return immediately to the
negotiating table.