RIYADH: Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, who wrapped up a day’s visit to the Kingdom yesterday, said Saudi Arabia would help in post-conflict development in the northern and eastern parts of the country.
He said the Kingdom would send an evaluation team to the areas affected by the war against the rebels to consider the volume of assistance that could be rendered to rehabilitate the refugees in the country. He added that the Saudi team would comprise mainly officials from the Saudi Fund for Development.
The foreign minister said the government has already provided full assistance to the civilians who fled from the cease-fire zone.
“We want to see that 150,000 civilians who fled from the LTTE are given maximum care and the international community’s assistance is sought to further boost the facilities already provided by the government,” he said. “The facilities in terms of shelter, water and sanitation have been provided and these facilities would be further enhanced with the support of the international community.”
The minister held talks in Riyadh with Interior Minister Prince Naif, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of the Kingdom Holding Company, GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah and SFD Vice Chairman Mohamed Al-Arefi.
Bogollagama said that he was here to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries. “We value our friendship with the Kingdom since it is home to 550,000 Sri Lankans and is blessed with the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, which hosts millions of Muslim pilgrims from all parts of the world including Sri Lanka.”
On arrival, Chief of Protocol Alawdeen Al-Askar, Saudi Ambassador in Colombo Abdul Rahman Al-Jammaz, Sri Lankan Ambassador Abdul Ageed Mohammed Marleen, and prominent members of the Sri Lankan community here were present to receive the Lankan minister.
