Sri Lanka has given the world “great hope,”

Speaking after a meeting with Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, the US ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said the”world is watching what is happening in Sri Lanka far more closely than I think any of you can imagine”. “The changes that have been put in place in a very complex and diverse political environment over the course of the last 9 or 10 months have grabbed the world’s attention.”

Stating that Sri Lanka has given the world “great hope,” she added that the country has “dealt with terrorism itself and now is dealing with the very difficult legacies of a long and very arduous civil conflict”. “But it is putting one foot in front of the other, facing hard problems, and again showing no signs of moving away from confronting the difficult issues of the past in order to contribute to that brighter future.”

Commenting on her trip to Jaffna on 22 November  Ms Power said the visit would give her “the chance to see places I visited 5 years ago and to see the effects on the ground of some of the new policies that have been put into place in recent days and months”.

Mr Samaraweera said that “even in the most difficult times she always maintained faith and trust in the people of this country and the latent strength of our nation.”

“We have a long way to go and this is the first time that the people of Sri Lanka require the assistance of the international community to ensure that our gains are held on and dreams of our people are realized, and we define and create our future today by our hopes and aspirations without being held back anymore by the fears and prejudices of the past.”

Ms Power also met Tamil National Alliance leader, R. Sampanthan and M. A. Sumanthiran.