Saturday, April 4, 2009

Lankan peace rally in Australia attacked

By Kurulu Kariyakarawana

An unruly situation emerged when a group of LTTE activists in Australia tried to obstruct a peace rally organized by a number of Sri Lankan residents in Melbourne on Saturday morning.

An association named 'Melbourne Lankan Students' organized a peaceful demonstration in front of the Melbourne State Parliament displaying banners demanding that the LTTE release civilians in the Wanni. Around 2000 people took part in the demonstration.

The demonstration was staged for several hours before a group of LTTE activists who came to the location in their vehicles started parading the area displaying Tiger flags, rally organizers told Daily Mirror.

A clash broke out when a group of activists in one of the vehicles came face to face with a group of peace rally participants.

Several activists from both parties were reportedly injured whilst at least one was hospitalized. Melbourne State Police later intervened, eyewitnesses said.

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