Blake and Otero in Colombo

US Assistant Secretary of State for South Central and Central Asia Robert O Blake and US Under Secretary for Civilian Protection, Human Rights and Democracy Maria Otero have arrived in Colombo on a visit. They have returned to Lanka after a brief Visit to Maldives which faces a political crisis.

They held discussions with Tamil National Alliance yesterday. The TNA delegation was led by R.Sampanthan. He was accompanied by TNA Parliamentarian M.A.Sumanthiran. ‘ We discussed the whole gamut of the issues related to the plight of the Tamil people. It was a cordial and constructive discussion. We exchanged ideas.’, Sampanthan is reported to have told the media.

The top US officials who will be in Sri Lanka until February 14 are scheduled to meet President Mahinda Rajapkse, External Affairs Minister G.L.Peiris and others.