Sri Lanka's External Affairs Ministry in Colombo yesterday dismissed some media reports that said the US official's reported visit was postponed on a request from Colombo.
The Ministry said that dates had not been fixed for Blake's visit and discussions were underway despite the absence of External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris who is in the United Kingdom on an official visit.
As former Ambassador to Sri Lanka would be in Colombo for talks, Sinhala nationalist newspaper The Divaina reported skeptically that his visit was due to complaints of the Global Tamil Forum.
Foreign media reports said Blake had met a delegation led by Global Tamil Forum recently in Washington D.C. and had discussions on the issue of resolution of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.
In a testimony before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Blake said Sri Lanka's worrisome record on human rights, weakening democracy, and the accountability during the final months of war are limiting United States' ability to fully engage with Sri Lanka.
He warned that failure to take credible and meaningful steps towards accountability is likely to generate pressure for an international commission to investigate Sri Lanka's conduct during the last phase of the war.
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