Colombo: The United States today (Feb 13, 2004) warned Sri Lanka that its political crisis could jeopardise international support to rebuild the country's war-ravaged economy.

"Development assistance and private investment from abroad can help Sri Lanka to realise its enormous economic potential. Such overseas support will be jeopardised, however, in the absence of political stability," said Deputy Assistant Administrator for US Agency for International Development (USAID), Mark Ward.

Ward, who toured the embattled Jaffna peninsula and held talks with top officials, said widespread, multi-partisan support was necessary to take Sri Lanka's fragile peace bid forward.

Ward said the USAID had planned to close down its operations three years ago, but with the revival of the peace process and a truce since February 2002, they had changed their minds and were strongly committed.

He said the agency had finalised a five-year $120 million plan titled "Supporting Peace and Reform in Sri Lanka."

"I want to encourage all Sri Lankans to lend a hand in consolidating the remarkable progress towards achieving peace that has already been made," Ward said.

Continued international support was necessary to help rebuild and reconstruct Sri Lanka's infrastructure damaged by three decades of fighting and create new jobs and address poverty, Ward said.

The US, which outlawed LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam) in October 1997, does not directly fund areas held by the Tamil Tigers in the Island's Northeast, he said.