“We will be standing along with our Sri Lankan friends for the long haul in order to deal with this tragedy” Says Colin Powell.

US Secretary of State, Colin Powell signing the Condolence Book at the Embassy of Sri Lanka, Washington DC.

US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, visited the Sri Lankan Embassy on Thursday December 30th. Secretary Powell visited the Embassy both to pay his respects and to offer his condolences to the victims of the Tsunami tragedy in Sri Lanka.

The Secretary of State was received by the Sri Lankan Ambassador Devinda Subasinghe. Mr. Powell extended a warm hug to the Sri Lankan Ambassador upon his arrival. During his stay Secretary Powell signed a condolence book. Mr. Powell also made several remarks to members of the press that covered his visit to the Embassy.

Ambassador Subasinghe in conversation with US Secretary of State, Colin Powell and
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Mr. Donald Camp.

In response to a question on what he wrote in the condolence book Mr. Powell said “I expressed our sympathy and extended our deepest condolences on behalf of the President and Mrs. Bush and the American people to all Sri Lankans, and to let the Government of Sri Lanka and all Sri Lankans know that we will stand with them in solidarity and do everything we can to assist in this time of tragedy, in this time of need.”.

Mr. Powell also remarked “This has been a very serious blow to Sri Lanka and the need is great, and we will be working with the international community to respond to that need. We have disaster relief teams on the scene. Supplies are being flown in from around the world, including from the United States. We have rescue teams on the way too. We have made an initial allocation of funds, but as the need becomes better known and established, you can expect that the United States will add more to the funds that have already been provided. Its important that we do this right, deal with the initial humanitarian tragedy and help people who are in desperate need now, but don’t lose sight of the need for rehabilitation, reconstruction of homes and businesses and the economy later on. So we will be standing along with our Sri Lankan friends for the long haul in order to deal with this tragedy. It is a rather unprecedented catastrophe. I have been through many similar situations in my career, but none as serious as this one.”

Mr. Powell was accompanied by Assistant Secretary of State Mr. Lincoln Bloomfield and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Mr. Donald Camp.

Embassy of Sri Lanka
Washington DC
USA

30 December 2004