By Walter Jayawardhana

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accepted an invitation by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to visit Sri Lanka for an official visit.

Government sources said the invitation was made to Chavez during the three day visit of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the 40th National Day celebrations of Libya in the capital city of Tripoli.

Finishing his state visit to Libya President Rajapaksa and his entourage returned to the island during early hours of Thursday September 3 at the Bandaranaike international airport at katunayaka.

The meeting between President Rajapaksa and President Chavez was held after the National Day Celebrations were over in Tripoli.

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama and Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga participated in the talks between President Rajapaksa and President Chavez.

The talks were conducted in a very cordial and informative manner.

During the talks President Chavez very enthusiastically inquired from President Rajapaksa how his troops were able to achieve the historically victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)which was according to Western analysis invincible.

Chavez, despite his visit to neighbouring India, said he was very anxious to visit the beautiful country. President Rajapaksa immediately invited him to visit the island.

Venezuela the worldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s sixth largest petroleum exporter is very interested in helping developing nations by economic and trade activities.