<p>A radical Buddhist monk accused of instigating hate crimes against Muslims has won a seat in Sri Lanka's parliament, results showed Friday.</p>.<p>The Our Power of People party led by Galagodaatte Gnanasara, who has vowed to fight Islamic extremism, won one seat in Wednesday's election which was decided by proportional representation.</p>.<p>The party central committee nominated Gnanasara, who was standing for the first time, to take a seat in the 225-member assembly, a spokesman told AFP.</p>.<p>Gnanasara served nine months of a six-year jail term for intimidating the wife of a missing cartoonist and contempt of court until he was given a presidential pardon in May last year.</p>.<p>Gnanasara has close ties with Wirathu, an extremist monk in Myanmar whose outbursts have stoked religious tensions there.</p>.<p>Wirathu visited Sri Lanka as a guest of Gnanasara shortly after 2014 anti-Muslim riots. The duo vowed to fight what they called the threat from Islamic jihadists but Gnanasara denied any role in the riots that left four dead.</p>.<p>Gnanasara accused the government of ignoring his warnings after Muslim radicals staged suicide bombings on Easter Sunday last year that left 279 people dead.</p>
<p>A radical Buddhist monk accused of instigating hate crimes against Muslims has won a seat in Sri Lanka's parliament, results showed Friday.</p>.<p>The Our Power of People party led by Galagodaatte Gnanasara, who has vowed to fight Islamic extremism, won one seat in Wednesday's election which was decided by proportional representation.</p>.<p>The party central committee nominated Gnanasara, who was standing for the first time, to take a seat in the 225-member assembly, a spokesman told AFP.</p>.<p>Gnanasara served nine months of a six-year jail term for intimidating the wife of a missing cartoonist and contempt of court until he was given a presidential pardon in May last year.</p>.<p>Gnanasara has close ties with Wirathu, an extremist monk in Myanmar whose outbursts have stoked religious tensions there.</p>.<p>Wirathu visited Sri Lanka as a guest of Gnanasara shortly after 2014 anti-Muslim riots. The duo vowed to fight what they called the threat from Islamic jihadists but Gnanasara denied any role in the riots that left four dead.</p>.<p>Gnanasara accused the government of ignoring his warnings after Muslim radicals staged suicide bombings on Easter Sunday last year that left 279 people dead.</p>