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Bush to meet PM on July 24

WASHINGTON, July 15 (AFP)

US President George W. Bush will welcome Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to the White House on July 24, officials said Monday.

The visit, which comes as the government in Colombo pushes for a final peace deal with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, will be the highest-level exchange between the two countries since 1984, when Ronald Reagan met then Sri Lankan president Junius Jayewardena.

"The leaders will discuss key bilateral issues key bilateral issues and Sri Lanka's efforts to achieve a peaceful end to a long-standing conflict that has been marked by terrorism and human rights abuses," a White House statement said.

The United States has strongly backed a Norwegian brokered attempt to end the conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the government, which has claimed around 60,000 lives.

Washington, which sees the conflict in the context of its campaign against global terrorism, has warned the Tigers, known for their trademark suicide bombings, not to jeopardise the peace process.

US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca in March made the first high-level US visit to the northern Jaffna peninsula, a Tiger stronghold.

The Tigers and the Sri Lankan government have been observing an Oslo-arranged ceasefire since February 23 ahead of formal talks expected later this summer in Thailand. 

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