DPA/Colombo
US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake shakes hands with Commander of Security Forces of Jaffna Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe at the security forces headquarters in Jaffna yesterday
A senior US diplomat toured former war zones, met with community leaders, students and government officials in northern Sri Lanka yesterday, officials said.
About 100 protesters in Jaffna held placards and chanted anti-US slogans during the visit of Robert Blake, assistant US secretary of state for South and Central Asia.
Blake visited a newspaper office where a journalist was attacked and injured recently by an unknown gang in the northern city, 390 kilometres north of the capital.
He also met with officials to evaluate reconstruction work, and addressed university students.
The US is funding projects in the northern part of the country after the insurgency by Tamil rebels was defeated in 2009.
Blake had met with President Mahinda Rajapakse and legislator members of the opposition Tamil National Alliance in the capital Colombo on Monday.