SRI LANKAN FOREIGN MINISTRY REQUESTS INFORMATION

UNCLAS COLOMBO 001777

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PREL CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKAN FOREIGN MINISTRY REQUESTS INFORMATION
ON REPORTED HOSTAGE



1. (SBU) Ambassador Pamela Deen, the Director General of the
Americas Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
contacted the Ambassador on October 29 to request U.S.
assistance in obtaining information on a Sri Lankan
reportedly abducted in Iraq on October 28. The Ministry
learned of the report from the CNN website, which reported
that a Sri Lankan and a Bangladeshi, employees of a company
in Kuwait, had been seized as they were traveling to a U.S.
military base by a group calling itself the Islamic Army in
Iraq. Noting that Sri Lanka has no diplomatic representation
in Iraq, Ambassador Deen requested U.S. assistance in
confirming the abduction and obtaining any additional
information possible about the incident.


2. (SBU) Action Request: Please advise what information,
if any, we can pass on to the Sri Lankan government.

LUNSTEAD