A top U.S. official has said that Washington would fully back Sri Lanka's battle against terrorism but warned the island's separatist armed conflict should be solved through political settlement, the official Daily News reported Saturday.

Visiting U.S. envoy Steven Mann said Washington was fully appreciative of the fact that the Sri Lankan government had a difficult task in fighting terrorism while pursuing a political solution to the quarter century old conflict.

"It is a difficult task," Mann told reporters at a press conference Friday evening after a lengthy meeting with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, where he was briefed on the government's strategy in dealing with the conflict.

The principal deputy assistant secretary of state for south and central Asia arrived in Colombo on Friday for a 2-day visit to discuss the Norwegian-backed peace process, human rights issues and access to conflict areas in the war-torn Northern and Eastern provinces.

Mann said the United States, while supporting the government's action against terrorism, would urge the Sri Lankans to resolve the conflict through peaceful means.

He said Sri Lanka had an important opportunity and urged the Sri Lankan leaders to seize the opportunity, referring to the forthcoming meeting of the All Party Conference to make recommendations towards a political solution.

The Sri Lankan government has recorded a series of military victories against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels since mid-last year.

The government said that rebels were being targeted to curb their fire power so as to deny the LTTE from carrying out terror attacks against government troops.

However, the international community led by the United States has been urging the government to seek a negotiated political settlement to the conflict that had claimed over 67,000 lives since the mid-1980s.

Source: Xinhua