Colombo, Oct 23: A senior US official will assess peace negotiations between the Sri Lankan government and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels when he visits the island nation this week, a US embassy official said today.

Donald Camp, deputy assistant secretary for South Asian affairs, was to arrive in Sri Lanka tomorrow for an assessment of the talks, as well as meetings on bilateral ties and the regional security situation, a US embassy statement said. Camp's two-day visit comes as the government and The Tamil Tiger rebels prepare for a second round of peace talks in an attempt to end a 19-year civil war that has killed more than 64,500 people.

Camp will meet with "a variety of government officials, political leaders, non-governmental groups and private individuals," the statement said, adding that camp had earlier worked as a political-economic officer at the American Embassy in Sri Lanka. US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage visited Sri Lanka and traveled to the northern war-wracked city of Jaffna in August.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been fighting to create a separate state for the country's ethnic Tamil minority since 1983.

Bureau Report