US envoy alarmed by rising anti-Muslim campaign in Sri Lanka

Colombo: A United States diplomat has expressed alarm at a rising anti-Muslim campaign in Sri Lanka and warned that such sentiments should not be allowed to fester.US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Michele J Sison spoke on Monday to foreign correspondents based in Colombo. The comments follow months of hate speeches, vilification and even attacks on Muslim-owned businesses and places of worship by Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalist groups.[caption id="attachment_691503" align="alignleft" width="380"] An escalation in attacks and anti-Muslim rhetoric has caused fears of a new wave of ethnic violence in a country still recovering from a quarter-century civil war between the government, controlled by ethnic Sinhalese Buddhists, and a mainly Hindu ethnic Tamil rebel group. AP[/caption]Sison also expressed concern over continued threats and attacks against local media nearly four years after the end of a civil war and the authorities' inability to resolve the numerous killigs, abductions and assaults against journalists.IANS