New Zealand has assured that it will attend a Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan President's Office said on Thursday.

The assurance comes when New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully met President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday night, during a visit to the country.

McCully reaffirmed his country's support for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that will take place in Sri Lanka in November.

"McCully wished Sri Lanka well in preparing for CHOGM and said the entire Commonwealth needs to see the progress in the country, pointing out that success in trade and the economy is important to the process," the President's Office said.

Prior to embarking on his visit to Sri Lanka, McCully had said that he would discuss human rights concerns on Sri Lanka during his visit.

He had also said that he intended to discuss progress towards reconciliation following the end of the civil war.

The Sri Lankan government has been accused of failing to address human rights concerns over the final stages of the war between the Tamil Tiger rebels and the military. The rebels were defeated four years ago after 30 years of war.

Canada has threatened to boycott the summit over human rights concerns in Sri Lanka and pushed other Commonwealth countries to also follow suit. Endi

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