M.I.A. ASKS OPRAH WINFREY FOR NEEDED HELP

M.I.A.

The British-born singer M.I.A. is begging television show icon Oprah to help her shed light on the attacks on civilians in Sri Lanka. The star was born in the U.K. to Sri Lankan parents. When she was a child her father returned to the country and joined the fight for a separate Tamil state there. The battle between Tamil activists and the Sri Lankan government has descended into bloody violence -- and M.I.A. claims thousands of civilians are regularly killed in bombing raids. She met Oprah at a recent event to honor Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People, and has now is writing on her MySpace.com page to ask her new friend for help. The singer writes, "She squeeeezed my hand so hard, I was convinced she cared. Michelle Obama gave a speech and there was mad secret service in the air so I didn't get to throw a paper plane at her saying 'stop the bombing of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.' "I wasn't sure about my influence but........if I do have any influence, I wish I could get the media to spotlight this... Oprah can you do something bout these camps pleeeeeeeeeease?"
Photos By: Sara De Boer/Retna