Kouchner coming next week:
France to provide 100-bed field hospital for IDPs in North
Responding to a call to the international community made yesterday by
Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama for emergency relief assistance for
the large number of civilians who have fled LTTE control and sought
sanctuary in the cleared areas in recent days, the French Foreign
Minister, Dr Bernard Kouchner telephoned his Sri Lankan counterpart
yesterday and informed that the Government of France will be providing a
fully equipped 100-bed field hospital, backed by a 75 strong medical and
support staff immediately.
In this regard, an advance team will arrive in Colombo tomorrow to
make a field assessment to locate the hospital facility in the Vavuniya
district.
As a further manifestation of the long-standing excellent bilateral
relations between the two countries, Dr Kouchner accepted Minister
Bogollagama's invitation to visit Sri Lanka.
This visit is expected to take place as early as next week.
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