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| Wednesday, 26 March 2003 |
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US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage commended the effort by the Government and the LTTE for a revival of local government electoral process in the North and East saying it was encouraging and a triumph for the democratic life. He made these remarks after Minister Prof.G.L.Peiris who is leading a team of delegates to US to attend the second joint council meeting of US-Sri Lanka Trade and Investment Agreement met the Deputy Secretary at the State Department in Washington to brief him on the current developments of the Peace Process and the outcome of the Tokyo talks. Armitage said that he looked forward to a very positive outcome at the Tokyo Donor conference in June. Prof.Peiris explaining the current situation said that consolidation of the peace process has now reached an irreversible stage, as exemplified by the ability of the parties to deal with volatile situations. He said a clear illustration was the manner in which the two parties defused tensions arising from recent sea incidents, causing no damage to the continuity of the negotiations. He said the two parties have succeeded in putting in place a stable mechanism for resolving such problems in future through the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. Prof.Peiris also briefed him the present role of former Amnesty International Chief Ian Martin in the field of Human rights and his participation as an adviser in Berlin and Hakone Talks. Deputy Secretary has expressed satisfaction over the willingness of negotiating parties to emphasise monitoring and implementation of human rights during the negotiating stage. He had pledged assistance in strengthening the human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. Minister Ravi Karunanayake who is accompanying Prof.Peiris described the initiatives of the government in the field of economic and trade policy. |
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