Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Minister GL Peiris told diplomats from Muslim countries in Colombo on Monday that an ongoing “vicious campaign” was designed to drive a wedge between Muslim states and Sri Lanka, The Island reported.
The minister said the international campaign was carried out in two ways.
"In its internal dimension, it is a direct attempt to alienate the Muslim community from the government. The external expression of this campaign has as its objective the purpose of driving a wedge between Sri Lanka and Muslim countries with a view to weakening Sri Lanka at international fora. The skillfully conceived and co-ordinated character of the campaign is apparent and substantial funding as well as other forms of material support from foreign sources is also in evidence," Peiris said.
The discussion was attended by Mr. Aziz Ahmadzada, Ambassador of Afghanistan, Mr. Harimawan Suyitno, Ambassador of Indonesia, Mr. Kahtan Taha Khalaf, Ambassador of Iraq, Mr. Zuhair Zaid, Ambassador of Palestine, Mr. Abdulaziz Jammaz, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia, Mr. Iskander Kemal Okyay, Ambassador of Turkey, Mr. Abudlhamid Al Mulla, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Mohammed Sufiur Rahman, High Commissioner of Bangladesh, Mr. Azmi Zainuddin, High Commissioner of Malaysia, Mr. S.K. Ahmed, High Commissioner of Nigeria, Major-General Qasim Qureshi, High Commissioner of Pakistan, Mr. Reham Alfeqig, Deputy Head of Mission of Egypt, Mr. Ebrahim Khari, Charge d’ Affaires of Iran, Mr. Ahmad Almairi, Charge d’ Affaires Kuwait, Mr. Kamal Benalashnar, Charge d’ Affaires of Libya, Mr. Rajab Al-Habshi, Charge d’ Affaires of Oman, and Dr. Hassan Niyaz, Deputy High Commissioner of the Maldives.