U.S. Assistant Secretary Boucher to visit Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 October 2006, 12:45 GMT]
Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher, is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka Thursday and Friday in Support of Peace Talks, U.S. Embassy in Colombo said in a press release issued on Tuesday. Mr. Richard Boucher will meet with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, Mangala Samaraweera, civil society leaders, NGOs and will travel to Trincomalee to meet with local government officials and civic leaders, according to the U.S. Embassy. This is the second visit by Mr. Richard Boucher to Sri Lanka this year.

Full text of the press release issued by the U.S. Embassy in Colombo follows:

U.S. Assistant Secretary Boucher Visits Sri Lanka in Support of Peace Talks

COLOMBO, October 17, 2006- Ambassador Richard Boucher, Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asian Affairs, will visit Sri Lanka on October 19 and 20.

Ambassador Boucher will meet with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, other senior government officials, civil society leaders and non-governmental organizations. Following meetings in Colombo, Ambassador Boucher will travel to Trincomalee to meet with local government officials and civic leaders.

This will be Ambassador Boucher's second visit to Sri Lanka in his capacity as Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, after his first in June 2006. Prior to that, Ambassador Boucher had visited Sri Lanka in January 2005 with then-Secretary of State Colin Powell while serving as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs.

Ambassador Boucher is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Career Minister. Over the course of his career, Ambassador Boucher as served as the Department of State's Spokesman or Deputy Spokesman under six Secretaries of State. Before being named to his present post, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. Prior to this, he was the United States Senior Official for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Among his other assignments, Ambassador Boucher has served as U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus, Consul General in Hong Kong and, earlier in his career, Deputy Principal Officer in Shanghai, China. Ambassador Boucher received his bachelor's degree from Tufts University.

Ambassador Boucher will hold a press conference on October 20th at 6:30 p.m. in the Palm Lounge of the Galle Face Hotel.