Colombo, June 05: A top US development official visited Sri Lanka's embattled northern peninsula of Jaffna today ahead of a crucial aid pledging conference for the island nation, the US embassy here said. The number two at the US Agency for International Development (Usaid), Frederick W Schieck, arrived here yesterday to launch a water project in Jaffna, the embassy said.

Schieck was also to visit an area in Jaffna being demined by the US State Department's quick reaction demining force (QRDF).

The Usaid deputy administrator was to then travel to Japan for a crucial donors conference on reconstruction and development of Sri Lanka set for June 9-10.

Japan is hosting the aid pledging conference in a bid to drum up international financial support to rebuild the war-ravaged nation.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have said they will boycott the conference despite a ceasefire with the government that has been holding since February last year.

Bureau Report