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US to work with Sri Lanka on counter-terrorism
04 May, 2019
The United States says it hopes to work closely with Sri Lanka on security issues, including counter-terrorism, in the future.
However, the US insisted that it has no plans to establish a military base in Sri Lanka.
“I keep reading press reports about American interest in establishing a military base in Sri Lanka. Let me tell you directly: this is just false,” the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina Teplitz said.
She expressed these views in a Facebook chat hosted by the US Embassy in Colombo.
Speaking about the security threat in Sri Lanka following the Easter Sunday attacks, the Ambassador said that the current travel advisory issued by the US says they believe there continues to be an active terrorist plot afoot.
“It?s our obligation to protect American citizens and we’ve have done so by putting out this advisory, which is part of our worldwide travel advisory system. We did send home our school-aged children, for the time being, out of an abundance of caution. We constantly review the travel advisory levels to make sure U.S. citizens have the latest information possible so they can make the best decisions on their travels. Our current travel advisory asks Americans to reconsider travel to Sri Lanka. Prior to the attacks, Sri Lanka had a lower travel advisory level than France,” the Ambassador said.
The Ambassador said that the US is working very hard to support the Government’s investigations into the attacks. (Colombo Gazette)
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