Sri Lanka falls foul of Arabs
By
MUSHTAK PARKER,
in London
Sharp deterioration is occurring in relations between the Arab countries and Sri Lanka, as a result of the Sri Lankan decision to employ Israeli Mossad agents to assist its security forces against Tamil insurgency. Sri Lanka is also employing security experts from the British Special Air Service. According to reliable Muslim sources in Colombo, Iraq — Sri Lanka’s most important Arab customer for its tea exports — is closing its embassy. There has been a three month delay in Sri Lanka appointing a new ambassador to Saudi Arabia, following the death of the previous ambassador, Mohammed Thaseem. Sources in Riydah say that the Saudis are threatening to refuse to receive a new ambassador until the Sri Lankans reject the Mossad aid. The mood this week is epitomised by a cartoon in “Al Madina,” one of the leading Saudi dailies. It shows a Sri Lankan stuck through the middle of a Star of David. Another Saudi daily, “Al Riyadh,”
calls for tough measures against Colombo. Particularly concerned about the worsening relations are the 400,000 expatriate Sri Lankans who are working in Arab countries. These workers form an important element in the Sri Lankan economy; their remittances home last year amounted to nearly $2 billion, making them the country’s biggest foreign exchange earner. There are now threats that recruitment by Arab countries will cease. Sri Lankan tea exports would suffer particularly badly in a breach with Iraq and there has already been evidence of a sharp drop in Arab investment in Sri Lanka, following the ethnic disturbances. This investment has fallen from $32 milliom in 1982 to $15.2 million last year. According to reports in the Colombo daily, “Divaina,” the Sri Lankan Government has promised that the eight Mossad members will leave the country by November 1, but that there will continue to be an Israeli interests section at the United States Embassy.—Copyright, London Observer Service.
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Bibliographic details
Press, 28 August 1984, Page 12
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323Sri Lanka falls foul of Arabs Press, 28 August 1984, Page 12
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