Annan's envoy makes four-day visit to Sri Lanka after foreign minister's assassination

As the international community looks for ways to put Sri Lanka's peace process back on track in the aftermath of the assassination of the foreign minister, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's envoy has just ended a four-day visit to the Asian country's capital, Colombo, the UN spokesman said today.

At Mr. Annan's request, envoy Lakhdar Brahimi held consultations with Government officials, as well as a broad spectrum of people in the country, the spokesman said.

A ceasefire agreement in February 2002 ended two decades of fighting between Government and separatist forces of the minority Tamils, in which tens of thousands of people are reported to have been killed. Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, a Tamil who joined the Government, was shot to death in Colombo last month.

"The heightened attention by the United Nations is meant to reinforce, and in no way to replace, the ardent efforts of Norway to facilitate the peace process. The Secretary-General reiterates his full support for the Norwegian-led efforts to advance the peace process," the UN spokesman said.