Sri Lankan minister 'forced' to leave Coimbatore

A Sri Lankan Minister was todayforced to cancel his participation in a function here andleave the city based on police advice shortly before TamilEelam supporters staged a protest against his visit.

Sri Lankan Agriculture Minister Reginald Cooray left thecity this morning for Chennai without attending the functionat the Sugarcane Breeding Institute here after police advisedhim to move apparently getting wind of the planned protest.

Apparently unaware that Cooray had left the city, around50 workers of MDMK, Periyar Dravida Kazhagam, ViduthalaiChiruthaigal and other outfits gathered in front of the hotelwhere he had checked in last night on arrival and raisedslogans against him and the Sri Lankan Government over thealleged war crimes against Tamils in the island.

All the activists were arrested, police said.

About an hour before the protest, police escorted Cooray tothe airport from where he took a flight to Chennai, they said.

In January, Thirukumaran Nadesan, brother-in-law of SriLankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, had to face protests inRameswaram.

Citing the protests, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa hadwritten to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in March last todiscourage frequent visits by Sri Lankan VIPs to Tamil Naduand allow such visits only after consulting the stategovernment.

District and police officials refused to state whether theyhad prior knowledge about Cooray's visit.