Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron made an historic visit Friday to Jaffna, stealing the spotlight from a Commonwealth summit, AFP reported.
"I'm the first PM or President to go to the north of Sri Lanka since 1948. I want to shine a light on chilling events there first hand," he said on Twitter.
Only hours after the summit opened in Colombo, Mr. Cameron landed at the Palaly airbase in Jaffna. He travelled on a Sri Lankan military plane, after the government had barred civilian flights to the north during the summit.
What was meant to be a chance for President Mahinda Rajapaksa to champion a new-look Sri Lanka has been overshadowed by the legacy of the war: after refusing to bow to demands for an independent investigation into the end of the conflict, he has been confronted by a public relations disaster, AFP reported.