M A I N   N E W S

Decision on Kannappan after PM’s return, says Advani
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 23
Mr Vajpayee will decide on the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s demand for the removal of Union minister M. Kannappan from the government when he returns from his foreign trip on September 27 night, Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani said today, but maintained that allegations could not be just made against state governments on the misuse of POTA.

The Prime Minister has been informed about Ms Jayalalithaa’s letter in which she has said: “Continuance of such a person in the Union Council of Ministers would compromise national security and lead to an irreparable situation, exposing the country to even greater danger.”

According to newspaper reports, Mr Kannappan had told a party meeting in Chennai on September 16 that the Marumalarchi Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) would continue to support the LTTE becasue the party was of the firm opinion that the guerrillas protected the minority Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, Mr Kannappan, whose political master M. Vaiko, chief of the MDMK, has been in jail under POTA for making anti-national statements, has retracted from his alleged statement saying that he had only expressed moral support for the LTTE.