Tuesday, June 28 2005 14:26 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: Sri Lanka's key Muslim party today (Jun 28,2005) withdrew an ultimatum to its ruling coalition partner that it drops a controversial tsunami aid sharing deal with Tamil Tiger rebels.

The National Unity Alliance (NUA), which had given the Chandrika Kumaratunga Government time till today to roll back the deal, decided to withdraw the ultimatum after talks, a party official said.

President Kumaratunga's office in a statement said that she held talks with Muslim legislators and agreed to address their concerns.

"Their concerns were discussed in depth with the President," the statement said adding, "They proposed some options with the objective of resolving the issues causing their community, apprehension."

"The President responded positively to the (Muslim) Ministers' suggestions and under took to give them every consideration and explore how these proposals could be implemented."

Another coalition partner, the nationalist People's United Front or MEP, which had also expressed reservations about the deal decided yesterday (Jun 27, 2005) that it would remain with the Government.

The Government is already a minority administration following the withdrawal of support from its main Marxist ally, the Janata Vimukti Peramuna (JVP) or People's Liberation Front, over the tsunami aid deal.

The Marxist quit the Chandrika Kumaratunga Government over the deal contending that it went beyond the February 2002 ceasefire agreement with the Tigers and was far more dangerous in compromising the Island's sovereignty.