EU Commissioner meets Sri Lanka's President

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 November 2003, 15:50 GMT]
European Commission External Relations Commissioner, Mr. Chris Patten, Tuesday afternoon met with Sri Lanka's President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, at the Presidential House and discussed the current political crisis that has stalled the peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), political sources said.

Mr. Patten told Ms. Kumaratunge that the EU would continue its support to take forward the peace process, Presidential secretariat sources said.

Earlier in the morning, Mr. Patten briefed the Norwegian ambassador in Colombo, Mr. Hans Brattskar, and the acting head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, Mr. Hagrup Haukland, on the role of the EU in the Sri Lankan crisis, sources said.

Later he met the President and discussed with her in detail about the current political crisis. Former foreign minister and the President's advisor, Mr Lakshman Kadirgamar, also participated in the discussion, sources said.