May 14, Colombo: The Asia Foundation has launched a study that analyzes the United States’ involvement in Sri Lanka peace process during the period of 2002-2006, a press release issued by the Asia Foundation said.
The study titled “The United States’ Role in Sri Lanka’s Peace Process” followed another landmark study, “Sri Lanka Strategic Conflict Assessment -- Aid, Conflict and Peacebuilding in Sri Lanka (2002-2005)” that was released in January 2006.
A report on the study written by Jeffrey Lunstead, the former U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka from August 2003 to July 2006, provides an inside account on how the United States applied diplomatic, economic, and other resources to support Sri Lanka’s increasingly precarious peace.
In his study Ambassador Lunstead wrote that the U.S. involvement in 2003 was resulted from the expectation that a political process with the backing of the international community could resolve a tough terrorism problem.
“Today, the U.S. sustains a natural interest in helping the democratically-elected Government of Sri Lanka defeat a terrorist threat and the U.S. and other outside actors can help the Sri Lankan parties move towards peace if those parties genuinely want to do so and are willing to make compromises. But, if the Government of Sri Lanka does not prevent human rights abuses by government forces, U.S. ability to help will be constrained,” Lunstead has written in his report.
. The Asia Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that supports programs in Asia to help improve governance, economic reform and development and empower women.
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