US urges Lanka to support new civilian leadership in North

The United States has urged the Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa government to extend full support to the new civilian government in the Tamil-dominated northern region.
"Now that the people of Sri Lanka have chosen provincial councils to represent their interests, it is incumbent upon the Government of Sri Lanka to support the new civilian leadership of the provinces," State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said yesterday.
"In particular, we urge the Government of Sri Lanka to take advantage of this opportunity to expand efforts toward greater reconciliation by working with the newly elected Northern Provincial Council," Psaki said in a statement.
The United States congratulates the people of Sri Lanka on their successful elections in three provinces on September 21, she added.

"These polls were a historic first for the Northern Province since the end of decades of civil war in 2009," she said.
Sri Lanka's main Tamil party Sunday secured a landslide win in the historic provincial council polls held after a gap of 25 years in the former LTTE-ruled Northern Province, an outcome set to renew demands for greater autonomy for Tamils after the end of decades of ethnic war.