UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he wanted to return to Sri Lanka to "see all parts of the country" as he ended a two-day tour of tsunami-battered parts of the island Sunday.

The political repercussions of his visit to Sri Lanka continued even as Annan moved on to the Maldives, another country ravaged by massive waves.

Annan flew over Galle, Sri Lanka's southern capital, and eastward to the town of Hambantota. But he bowed to pressure by the Sri Lankan government not to visit areas in the north controlled by the Tamil Tiger rebels because of security concerns.

Kofi Annan at a news conference in Colombo Sunday (AP photo)
Kofi Annan at a news conference in Colombo Sunday (AP photo)

In agreeing to the government's request not to travel to rebel-controlled areas, the secretary general said the UN is not taking sides in the dispute that has plagued the country for decades.

Annan said he hopes to visit the entire country at a later date. But those words did little to stem the frustration. About 400 people held a peaceful protest in the country's north Sunday morning.

The rebels have complained little aid has been sent to the regions they control. Annan said the UN is getting relief to the north, but he has urged political leaders to put aside their differences.

"I'm hoping to come back... and see all parts of the country and be of help to accelerate the peace process," he told reporters.

The secretary general said Sri Lanka should use the tsunami disaster to end years of ethnic violence.

Sri Lanka has more than 30,000 known dead after the Dec. 26 tsunami. More than 800,000 Sri Lankans lost their homes in the disaster.