All uncleared areas will be freed soon

President Rajapaksa tells Commonwealth Secretary General:

NEW YORK: President Mahinda Rajapaksa during discussions on the current developments in the country with Secretary General of the Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma in New York on Tuesday, explained the positive manner in which Sri Lanka is combating terrorism, the success achieved in the East and the current engagements towards the liberation of the North too from the LTTE.

This was among the several bilateral and other scheduled meetings between President Rajapaksa and Heads of State and Government and multilateral organisations taking place on the sidelines of the 63rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly. President Rajapaksa said while it was necessary to combat terrorism through military means, he strongly believed in the need for a political solution to key issues in Sri Lanka.

The Commonwealth Secretary General was told that every effort was being taken to ease the humanitarian difficulties from the military engagements to defeat terrorism, and that it was a matter of time until all uncleared areas are cleared and people liberated.

On discussions on cooperation between the Commonwealth and Sri Lanka, Secretary General Sharma said Sri Lanka's request for technical assistance to develop the country's continental shelf would be favourably considered, similar to other Commonwealth countries that required assistance.

The discussions also included matters to be taken up at the special Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in New York and the progress expected from this following the CHOGM in Uganda.

The need for taking Commonwealth pursuits and initiatives to reach out to matters involving the larger global community, such as the Environment, Food Security and the need for reform of multilateral institutions was discussed, with Sri Lanka endorsing the need for such action.

Discussions also took place on arrangements for the Commonwealth Counter Terrorism Conference to be hosted in Sri Lanka in early 2009, with the process of the meeting to be finalised at a meeting of senior Commonwealth officials to be held shortly.

Other matters discussed included the relationship of the Commonwealth with SAARC. The Commonwealth Secretary General was accompanied by Amitarv Bannerjee, Director - Secretary General's Office and Mathew Neuhaus, Director Political Affairs of the Commonwealth, the Sri Lankan delegation comprised Minister of Foreign Affairs Rohitha Bogollagama, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary Foreign Affairs, Dr. Palitha Kohona and the Director General Europe and the CIS, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kshenuka Seneviratne.