President Mahinda Rajapakse returns home after a successful foreign tour

The President, who attended the 14th Non-Aligned Summit in Havana and the 61st UN General Assembly sessions in New York, touched down at the Katunayake Airport at 1.00 pm today. On arrival, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake and several parliamentarians greeted him. There were multi-religious ceremonies to invoke blessings on the President. He left the island on the 13th of this month. In Havana, he seized the opportunity of having bilateral talks with several state leaders. During his visit to New York to address the UN sessions, he used the opportunity to have bilateral talks with many heads of state. He was a selected invitee for the round table discussion organised by President Bush on democracy. Political analysts said within a short period after taking over the presidency, Mr. Rajapakse was able to address 03 international conferences and apprise the world community of the current situation in Sri Lanka.