Jan 17, Colombo: The United States said that it is not satisfied with the explanations offered by Sri Lanka on the impeachment of Chief Justice but unable to tell how it would impact US assistance to Sri Lanka.

Addressing the daily press briefing on Wednesday, the State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said that the explanations are not satisfactory in terms of protecting democracy.

In response to media queries on the impact of Sri Lanka's decision to sack the Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake on the bilateral assistance for Sri Lanka, the spokesperson said it is too soon to tell what the impact is.

"I will say that it is too soon to say what impact the actions will have on our foreign assistance for Sri Lanka going forward," Ms. Nuland said.

According to the spokesperson, U.S. Government assistance for FY2012 for Sri Lanka was US$27 million, which included US$13.3 million in bilateral assistance programs which primarily related to peace and security, human rights, economic growth, and democracy programs. The request for 2013 is US$ 16.5 million.

Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris met foreign diplomats in Sri Lanka on Wednesday at the Ministry and briefed them on the present political situation stability and socio economic and cultural trends prevailing in the country at present.

He has explained that the impeachment process against the Chief Justice is totally consistent with the provisions of the country's Constitution.