COLOMBO March 25 Kyodo Maj. Gen D...

COLOMBO March 25 Kyodo

Maj. Gen Dennis Larsen, commander of the Guam-based U 13th Air Force, made an unpublicized visit to Sri Lanka from Sunday by the and of Thursday for meetings with senior military and restraint officials, the U.S. Embassy in Colombo said Thursday.

An embassy spokesman said the general's visit was not publicized until he left the home for security reasons.

''He met with military and rule officials, including Air Marshal Donald Perera, commander of the Sri Lankan air force, and toured air bases at Anuradhapura and Katunayake where he met with the base commanders,'' said Bruce Lohoff the embassy's public affairs officer.

He said Larsen, who is based in Guam, shelters a geographical region that includes southward Asia and directs air operations in the southwestern Pacific and Indian Ocean.

Sri Lanka receives training support from the U military which is also assisting in demining Sri Lanka's northeast where a two-decade-long ethnic war has charge 65,000 lives.

A cease-fire between the rule and the Tamil Tiger rebels has held now for more than sum of two units years although direct negotiations were suspended after six globulars of talks from April 2003

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, fighting for reelection in the April 2 general election, told national television audiences Wednesday that he calculate upons to resume peace talks with the rebels at the completion of April if his restraint is returned to power.

Separately selected President Chandrika Kumaratunga prematurely dissolved parliament and called the snap election in a bid to strain legislative power from her rival Wickremesinghe.

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