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Miliband telephones FM:
Britain pledge 2.5 m sterling pounds
Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama outlined to David Miliband,
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the UK when
they spoke yesterday that the foremost priority of the Sri Lanka
Government is to ensure the safety of civilians entrapped in the North,
and combat operations had reached its conclusion.
The telephone call was initiated by Foreign Secretary Miliband.
Minister Bogollagama explained that the security forces hitherto had
been engaged in a rescue mission of the entrapped civilians and would
continue to do so since the LTTE had not made any attempts to release
the persons being held hostage.
Foreign Secretary Miliband acknowledged this effort of the Government
of Sri Lanka in protecting the entrapped civilians.
With regard to the humanitarian requirements, Foreign Minister
Bogollagama outlined the international assistance received, which
includes two field hospitals from the governments of India and France.
With the exodus of IDPs, they exchanged views on the related needs
and Foreign Secretary Miliband informed that the UK had pledged an
additional contribution of Sterling Pounds 2.5 million today. Minister
Bogollagama pointed out that the resettlement of the IDPs in the
shortest possible duration is a high priority of the Government of Sri
Lanka.
While welcoming Foreign Secretary Miliband’s forthcoming visit to
Colombo, the Minister outlined the details of the proposed programme. He
also observed that the government of Sri Lanka wished to confine this
visit on a bilateral basis to the Foreign Ministers of France and the
UK. The British Foreign Secretary stated that he was looking forward to
his forthcoming visit to Sri Lanka. Minister Bogollagama has extended an
invitation to his Swedish counterpart to visit Sri Lanka in May this
year at a mutually convenient time.
Minister Bogollagama also met today with Michael Foster,
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Department of International
Development, UK, who is currently on a one day visit to Sri Lanka to
assess the needs of the IDPs. In the context of his visit to the IDP
welfare village in Vavuniya, Minister Bogollagama pointed out that the
Government of Sri Lanka had done its utmost to provide the required
facilities and would replicate the action taken in the Eastern province
in the resettlement of the IDPs in the North.
He further explained that demining the area and developing the
infrastructure are imperative for this resettlement process. The
Minister further referred to the requirement of assistance in demining
following the LTTE resorting to heavily mining the villages.
Under-Secretary Foster pointed out that the British Government can
support the resettlement process in the North with its expertise. He
further stated that the British government had sought the assistance of
the Members of Parliament to send a message through the diaspora back to
the LTTE seeking the release of the civilians held hostage.
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