COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, June 10 (UPI) -- A key coalition partner in the Sri Lankan government has threatened to quit unless a proposed tsunami aid-sharing deal with the Tamil Tiger rebels is dropped.
The Marxist JVP, or People's Liberation Front, said it would block any attempt by President Chandrika Kumaratunga to cooperate with the rebels in distributing foreign aid to tsunami survivors, Channel NewsAsia reported Friday.
The party threatened to leave the government if the plan is not ended by June 15, JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe told reporters in Colombo.
A JVP pullout could bring down Kumaratunga's administration, which depends on the 39 seats of the Marxists in the 225-member assembly.
The Marxists say the plan to jointly distribute tsunami aid with the Tamil Tigers would help legitimize the rebels' separatist campaign.
Monks backed by the JVP were on the third day of a sit-in protest Friday and said they will fast until death. More protests are planned next week in Colombo.
Some 31,000 Sri Lankans were killed in the Dec. 26 tsunami, with much of the destruction being in the nation's northeast, parts of which are dominated by the Tiger rebels.
