Colombo, May 14: A top US envoy today warned Sri
Lanka's divided cohabitation government not to let the current
political crisis jeopardise the island's fragile peace bid
with Tamil Tigers.
Visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian
affairs Christina Rocca said she had discussed the
cohabitation problems during her talks with President
Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
"I have shared the international community's fervent hope
that these quarrels are set aside so that a clear, consistent
and United Sri Lankan voice is heard," Rocca told reporters
here.
Rocca, making her second visit to the island in 14
months, said there was a danger of cohabitation politics
"eclipsing" the peace process aimed at ending three decades of
ethnic bloodshed in the island.
"We hope it will not impede the peace process and they
will be able to move forward together," she said at the end of
her four-day visit to Sri Lanka.
Rocca, who arrived here on Sunday, declined to give
details of her talks with Sri Lankan leaders, but president
Kumaratunga's office said she gave the US official details of
some 3,000 cases of violence against her party supporters
following the December 2001 elections that brought
Wickremesinghe to power in Parliament.
Rocca said she had not yet gone through Kumaratunga's
complaint but was aware of abductions, killings and extortion
carried out by Tamil Tigers and urged the rebels to respect
human rights and democracy.
Bureau Report
