Two former US presidents, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, arrived in Colombo Sunday afternoon on a historic visit to assess first hand the reconstruction program of tsunami affected areas.

Bush and Clinton were appointed by US President George W. Bush to lead the campaign to raise funds in the United States for survivors of the disaster that struck Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Clinton was also appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as his special envoy for the tsunami-affected countries.

They arrived by special plane from Aceh in Indonesia where theymet Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The duo also toured parts of southern Thailand Saturday on the first stop of their tour of Asian nations hit by last December's tsunamis which killed nearly 289,000 people.

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga is scheduled to holdtalks with the two former presidents Sunday evening.

On Monday the two former presidents are due to tour tsunami affected areas in Matara and Weligama.

In Sri Lanka, more than 30,000 people were killed with over 80,000 homes damaged in the tsunami devastation of two thirds of the country's coastal belt.

They will leave on the last lap of their tour of the Maldives late on Monday.

This is the first time that former US presidents have visited Sri Lanka.

Source: Xinhua