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| Sunday, 5 June 2005 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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FM extracts US commitment to help SL by Deepal Warnakulasuriya US Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice pledged 'the US Government's support to Sri Lanka to evolve a joint mechanism' with the LTTE `in completing the massive task at hand' to recover from the tsunami effects, when she met the Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadiragamar at the State Department in Washington last Friday. US Secretary of State said that they remained committed to assist Sri Lanka and they were also `comfortable with Sri Lankan government's progress' in tsunami recovery projects and on the equitable manner of spending reconstruction funds. Minister Kadiragamar had taken the opportunity to meet the US Secretary in Washington after participating at the CNN 25th anniversary celebrations in Atlanta. Minister Kadiragamar briefed Dr.Rice in detail of the efforts being made by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga to evolve a consensus on the operation of a joint mechanism to deal with the immediate humanitarian situation at hand. He had further said that Sri Lanka being a democracy, the President was currently engaged in a process of consultation, but the time will come when the process of consultation will have to end and for the leadership to lead. The Minister further briefed the US Secretary on the recent acts of the LTTE which did not help the confidence building process. The continued acts of violence, recruitment of child soldiers, procurement of weapons, the construction of an air field and acquisition of air capability by the LTTE were shown as matters of serious concern. Dr.Rice had told the Minister that the US Government had taken serious note of LTTE's acquisition of air capability and she had also accepted the Minister's invitation to visit Sri Lanka at an early date. The Foreign Minister also met US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca, former US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and several other distinguished representatives from legislative, academic and policy planning. |
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