Washington, July 15 -- The Government of Sri Lanka under President Chandrika Kumatarunga entered into a SOFA agreement on 16 May 1995 with the Government of the United States in which one clause was to accord "diplomatic status to U.S. military personnel and civilian employees of the Department of Defense who may be present in Sri Lanka for exercises or other official duties" to which Sri Lanka's Ministry of Foreign Affairs accepted activating the US-Sri Lanka military agreement.

The parliament in which President Chandrika Kumaratunga's governing coalition had a majority with her nominated prime minister and a cabinet of ministers enacted the Diplomatic Privileges Act of 1996 in which the Government of Sri Lanka officially accorded diplo...