Sri Lankan Tamil party to meet U.S. officials

A Sri Lankan minority Tamil political party, which had once supported the Tamil Tiger rebels, said Monday that they will travel to the United States this week for talks with top U.S officials. The Tamil National Alliance said the visit is being facilitated by the U.S. State Department and may include a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A member of the Tamil National Alliance, Mavai Senathirajah told Xinhua that they will brief U.S. officials on talks held so far with the Sri Lankan government to reach a political solution to Tamil issues. The Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009 after 30 years of war and during the conflict the Tamil National Alliance was often seen as a mouthpiece of the rebels. During the conflict the rebels said they were fighting for the rights of the Tamils and demanded a separate state. Following the defeat of the rebels the Sri Lankan government conducted discussions with the Tamil National Alliance to address Tamils concerns. Senathirajah said their delegation will meet U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake during the visit to the U.S. Blake had visited Sri Lanka recently and had talks with the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil National Alliance after visiting Tamil dominated areas in the north of the country. During his visit to Colombo Blake had also emphasized on the need for the Sri Lankan government to continue to hold talks with the Tamil National Alliance. The talks have so far not seen concrete progress at reaching a political solution as negotiations often stalled over disagreements.