COLOMBO, Jan. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Visiting Nicholas Burns, a top US state department official, said that Sri Lanka has full support ofthe United States in its efforts to forge a negotiated solution with Tamil Tiger rebels, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday.

    Burns, U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, expressed in his meeting with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Monday the U.S. government's appreciation of the restraint exercised by the Sri Lankan government in the face of escalating violence and provocation by the Tamil Tiger rebels.

    The discussions during the meeting focused on the Sri Lankan government's initiatives to resume talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and related developments.

    The two sides also agreed that the United Sates and Sri Lanka will continue and build their cooperation in bilateral and multilateral framework to combat terrorism and promote peace building.

    Burns arrived here on Sunday for a two-day visit to push forward the country's peace process.

    His visit came ahead of a crucial visit by Norwegian International Development Minister Erik Solheim who is also the Norwegian special peace envoy on the peace process with the Tamil Tiger rebels.

    Solheim and Burns are to meet here where Solheim is expected to brief the U.S. official on the current status of the peace process.

    The U.S. government which has banned the LTTE rebels has warned the Tigers to return to the negotiation table by eschewing violence.

    The escalating violence in Sri Lanka has taken nearly 200 lives since the beginning of December 2005.