Highways Minister A. L. M. Athaulla yesterday called on the government to resettle all those Muslims who were evicted from Jaffna in July 1991 and are now living in refugee camps in Puttalam or with their relations in the South.

Addressing a news conference at the Presidential Secretariat, he said that the Muslims have also

undergone severe hardships due to the LTTE’s actions and the time had come for those wrongs to be rectified.

"Muslims owned land and property in the North and all that should be returned to them."

Athaulla said that it cannot be said the LTTE existed to liberate the Tamil people. "We have to thank the security forces and President Mahinda Rajapaksa for defeating the LTTE. This is a victory for both the Tamil and Muslim people."

Since the beginning of this year, all we have heard has been good news and it would be a matter of time before the entire North was cleared of the LTTE, he said.

The LTTE, Athaulla said never grasped the opportunities it was given and skipped peace talks on several occasions. The end result has been its defeat.