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| Sunday, 27 January 2002 |
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US welcomes extension of Sri Lanka ceasefire WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (AFP) - The United States on Friday praised the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels for extending their ceasefire by one month, as hopes rise for a permanent end to the bloody civil conflict. "We welcome the 30-day extension by the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam of the one-month ceasefire declared Christmas Eve. The extension is to end on February 24," said State Department spokeswoman Jo-Anne Prokopowicz. "We also welcome the goodwill gesture made by the Tamil Tigers on January 21 in releasing 10 prisoners, all members of the Sri Lankan military held since 1993. "The United States continues to support the Norwegian government's facilitation effort and its focus on helping to bring about a negotiated settlement to the conflict." A senior Sri Lankan minister said on Thursday that it was hoped the formal ceasefire could be cemented into a permanent truce within a month. Norway is acting as peace facilitator and is trying to broker a formal truce to end decades of ethnic bloodshed which has claimed more than 60,000 lives. State Department officials also said on Friday that Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who is expected to travel to Sri Lanka in the near future, would hold talks in Washington next week with Milinda Moragoda, Sri Lankan minister and political director of a cabinet committee on the peace process. |
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