The U.S. State Department announced on Wednesday it had
canceled a travel warning for Sri Lanka,
in a boost for the Indian Ocean island state
that ended a long war last year and hopes to draw more tourists.
The end of the travel warning comes just over a year after Sri Lankadeclared victory over the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
following 27 years of civil war.
The LTTE had not staged any attacks in the capital Colombo or elsewhere in Sri Lanka since then, the State
Department said in a statement.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris is scheduled to hold
talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on Friday.
The State Department’s decision was hailed by Sri
Lanka’s Ambassador to the United States, Jaliya
Wickramasuriya.
“We welcome the State Department’s decision recognition of Sri Lanka as a peaceful and
prosperous nation that is of course safe for visitors,” Ambassador
Wickramasuriya said. “We have been working with the State Department for some
time to lift this warning, and I am heartened that it has occurred during
Minister Peiris’ Washingtonvisit.”
In its statement, the State Department noted that, “The Government of Sri
Lanka declared victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on May
18, 2009. Since the war’s declared end, the LTTE has not mounted any attacks inColombo or elsewhere in Sri Lanka.”
In fact, tourism returned dramatically to Sri Lanka just days after the
conflict ended, and it has continued to improve, nearly doubling in some months
compared to last year, despite the State Department’s travel advisory.
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