Former US President Bill Clinton to Visit Sri Lanka

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, September 23, 2002

Former US President Bill Clinton to Visit Sri Lanka

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Former US President Bill Clinton told visiting Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he plans to visit Sri Lanka soon to acquaint himself with the country's peace process, the state-run Daily News said on Monday.

When they met in New York last week, Wickremesinghe thanked Clinton for his interest in Sri Lanka during his period in office and briefed him on the progress of the peace process in his country.

Clinton, who visited Sri Lanka in 1995 with his wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea, expressed interest in the peace initiative and hoped it would lead to a lasting peace, but no date has been fixed for his second visit to the small Indian Ocean island country, according to the paper.

While in New York, Wickremesinghe visited the Stock Exchange and met bankers and fund managers. He returned to Sri Lanka on Sunday after a seven-day official visit to the United States.

US Deputy State Secretary Richard Armitage has promised to back Sri Lanka to convene an international conference to help rehabilitate and reconstruct the country's war-torn north and eastwhen he met visiting Sri Lankan Economic Reform Minister Milinda Moragoda in New York following the conclusion of this country's first round of peace talks in Thailand.

The government and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels concluded their historic first round of peace talks in Thailand last week with progress as the rebels have given up their demand for a separate Tamil homeland which they have fought for during a 19-year bloody ethnic war. Over 64,000 people have been killed in the war.

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