US congratulates President

The United States congratulated President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) for the historic victory in the first nationwide Parliamentary election in decades.

This victory, coupled with the President's win in January's contest, provides a mandate to move forward on the important issues the President discussed during the campaign, such as national and ethnic reconciliation, decentralizing power, economic development and securing human rights, the US government said in a statement.

"We look forward to working with the newly elected Sri Lankan Government and hope to strengthen the historical ties of friendship and cooperation between our nations," the US government said.