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Prime Minister to visit Japan next week

TOKYO, Thursday (AFP) - Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is to visit Japan from December 3 until December 7, the Japanese foreign ministry announced Thursday.

Wickremesinghe is to meet his Japanese counterpart Junichiro Koizumi as well as Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, the ministry said.

"This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Sri Lanka. It is expected that the forthcoming visit of the prime minister will further strengthen friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries," the foreign ministry said.

Japan is Sri Lanka's single largest aid donor.

Tokyo's interest in the country's fledgling peace bid has boosted prospects of ending Asia's bloodiest ethnic conflict, Norway's deputy foreign minister Vidar Helgesen, a key figure in bringing Sri Lanka's warring parties to the negotiating table, said earlier this week.

Peace broker Norway announced at the end of a one-day international conference in Oslo Monday that Sri Lanka received aid pledges of nearly 70 million dollars.

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