Anglican head Williams seeks to foster Sri Lanka peace

COLOMBO, May 9 (Reuters) Visiting Sri Lanka amid escalating civil war, the spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans said today he wanted to help foster peace on the majority-Buddhist island.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, making a pastoral visit to the island as the state fights near daily land and sea battles with separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, said he wanted to learn about suffering caused by a war that has killed nearly 70,000 people since 1983.

''I'm here partly making a passing visit to the bishops with whom I work in this area but I'm also conscious that this is a time of great trial and suffering for the people of Sri Lanka,'' Williams told Reuters Television in the capital Colombo.

''I want to be here to learn something about the situation, to see how the Church is responding to it and to give encouragement to those working for peace here.'' Williams visited the ancient hill capital of Kandy yesterday, where the sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha is kept, and met with top Buddhist clergy. An estimated 70 per cent of Sri Lankans are Buddhist, with Christians trailing Hindus and Muslims at around 6 per cent.

Williams' trip coincides with a visit by a top US State Department official Richard Boucher, who is expected to urge President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government to crack down on reported rights abuses by security forces and to rein in paramilitaries.

Williams' visit also comes after Britain last week suspended around 3 million dollars in debt relief aid to the government citing concerns about human rights abuses and mushrooming defence spending.

REUTERS AM SSC1403