US to rebuild ties with Lanka

A top US diplomat promised yesterday that Washington would be a friend and partner of Colombo as she made the first visit by a senior American official since the toppling of Sri Lanka's long-time strongman.

In the build-up to last month's presidential elections, a top lieutenant to then president Mahinda Rajapakse accused the United States of trying to bring about "regime change", marking a new low in bilateral relations.

But since Rajapakse was beaten at the ballot box, the United States has moved swiftly to rebuild ties with a country that has become increasingly close to China over the past decade.

Speaking on a visit to Colombo, Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal said the US was ready to help Sri Lanka on a range of issues, including its human rights record, which was hugely contentious under Rajapakse.

Speaking to reporters after talks with Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, Biswal stressed the new government could count on US support to meet "difficult challenges ahead".

She did not directly refer to the pending US-initiated probe into allegations that up to 40,000 ethnic Tamil civilians were killed by Sri Lankan forces while defeating Tamil separatists in 2009.

However, she said Washington wanted to work with Colombo to "find constructive ways forward on all the areas of interest between our two nations".

Samaraweera said he would be travelling to Washington for talks with Secretary of State John Kerry next week.

"We want to raise the relationship between our two countries to a new level of cordiality and I hope to continue this dialogue in Washington," he said.