Sri Lanka monk ends ‘death fast’ in exchange for talks
A Buddhist monk legislator called off a death fast, a day after Sri Lanka's president promised to consult the clergy amid growing opposition to her plan to share tsunami aid with Tiger rebels. A Buddhist monk legislator called off a death fast, a day after Sri Lanka's president promised to consult the clergy amid growing opposition to her plan to share tsunami aid with Tiger rebels. But a bigger threat to President Chandrika Kumaratunga's government loomed with a threat by the Marxist JVP party to pull out of the ruling coalition, setting the stage for its possible collapse, unless she abandons the aid-sharing plan by next Wednesday.
Opponents of the aid-sharing plan fear it will grant legitimacy to the rebels' separatist campaign.