FCO envoy heads to Sri Lanka

Dr Kim Howells, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) minister, will visit Sri Lanka today where he will meet with local representatives to discuss the country's civil unrest.

Since a civil war began in Sri Lanka in 1983, more than 67,000 civilians have been killed, with 3,000 dying in the last year.

Despite the best efforts of the Norwegian led Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the conflict between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sinhala Sri Lankan government has worsened in recent months.

Dr Howells said: "Britain is a friend of Sri Lanka and takes a close interest in events there. I look forward to being able to see at first hand the situation on the ground in Sri Lanka and how things have changed since my last visit.

"I will be particularly keen to discuss what the international community can do to help create the conditions necessary to allow peace talks to resume."

The LTTE wants an independent Tamil state in the north-east of the country, which the Sri Lankan government refuses to recognise.

Violent clashes between the two warring parties have led only to civilian suffering and the threat of humanitarian problems.