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No come-back from Mrs. Ashraff to SLMC offer
By Frances Bulathsinghala
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the National Unity Alliance (NUA) are planning to have talks in a bid to arrive at a common understanding, the respective party leaders said.

SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem said he had sounded NUA leader Minister Ferial Ashraff several times on how the two parties could work together with regard to the Muslim question in the context of the peace talks.

However there was 'no question whatsoever' of the SLMC linking with NUA he said, claiming the NUA was a sister party of the SLMC and therefore an 'alliance of sorts' of the SLMC.

Stating that the SLMC would want to keep its own identity and remain as a separate party, Mr. Hakeem told The Sunday Times that his party would look to developing a working relationship with the NUA capitalising on the fact that both parties wanted a Muslim delegation at any peace talks between the Government and the LTTE. The Sunday Times spoke to Ms. Ashraff who admitted that Mr. Hakeem had directly contacted her with a request for discussions. She further claimed she was interested 'in listening to what Mr. Hakeem has to say' but was critical of what the SLMC had not done in the recent past to fulfil the aspirations of the Muslim people.

"There were the much talked about proposals for the North Eastern Administration highlighting the Muslim aspect which was to be prepared by Mr. Hakeem. We still do not know what happened to these proposals", she said. She also criticised the SLMC for being a party to the MoU signed between the then government and the LTTE.

"We want to find out what the SLMC policies are with regard to the LTTE's ISGA. They would be an important factor in deciding whether we can work together", she said.

"There was a time when the SLMC did not even want to acknowledge our party's existence. It went to courts to challenge the authenticity of our party. Now we are being recognised and we are happy to listen to what has to be said,” she said adding that her late husband's name was still 'very much associated with the SLMC'. Ms. Ashraff claimed the two parties were likely sit together this week for talks.

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