The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is to spend four days in Sri Lanka next week as part of a visit to South East Asia.

Dr Williams' visit comes at a time when tensions have increased in the country following the apparent breakdown in peace negotiations between the Government and the Tamil Tigers.

During the course of his visit, Dr Williams will hold meetings and discussions with religious and civil leaders in the country and will visit churches and see the church at work.

Dr Williams said that Sri Lanka was in his prayers: "I'm very much aware of the continuing difficulties being faced by the country and the present situation gives cause for real concern.

"Sri Lanka is a place in which conflict and violence has become a reflexive response to political difficulty and it is clear that people are suffering greatly. It is a very difficult situation and one which is constantly in our prayers.

"We trust that the witness of Christians in Sri Lanka will go on helping to provide real grounds for hope"

The Archbishop is visiting in his capacity as Metropolitan of the Church in Ceylon. He will arrive in Malaysia on where he will join the consecration and enthronement of the Rev Ng Moon Hing as the fourth Bishop of West Malaysia in St Mary's Cathedral, Kuala Lumpur.

While in the capital, Dr Williams will hold a meeting with the bishops of the province as well as meet senior Anglican clergy and heads of the country's other Christian denominations. He will also visit churches and church-based projects elsewhere on the peninsular.

Dr Williams will then head to Sri Lanka where he will stay from 7 to 10 May. Here, the Archbishop is responsible for oversight of the local Anglican church and the two dioceses of the Church of Ceylon come under his Metropolitical jurisdiction.

The Archbishop will lead worship in the Anglican Cathedrals of both Kurunegala and Colombo, hold meetings with clergy and church workers and visit examples of the church's ministries.

His visit will include an opportunity to engage with other Church leaders, senior Buddhist representatives and those of other faiths and he will also be briefed on the political situation by government, opposition and Tamil representatives as well as civil society leaders.

Dr Williams will then travel to Singapore for a consultation on The Anglican Way, part of the Anglican Communion's work in theological education. He will join members of the TEAC working group and others from around the communion to explore ways of deepening appreciation of what it means to be Anglican and of incorporating this practically in theological formation.

Whilst in Singapore he will deliver a lecture, "Public Religions and the Common Good" in the Anglican Cathedral on Saturday 12 May and preach in the cathedral the following morning.

Dr Williams returns to the UK on Sunday 13 May.