Monday, November 21, 2011

Sri Lanka war probe report delivered to president



By Ranga Sirilal | Reuters
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The Sri Lankan panel investigating the end of a quarter-century war with Tamil Tiger separatists delivered its report to President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday (20), a step awaited by Western nations urging investigations into war crimes allegations.

Rajapaksa has said he will make public the findings of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), Sri Lanka's answer to calls from some Western governments, overseas Tamil Tiger supporters and rights groups for an independent investigation.


"The final report was handed over to the president by its chairman. The president will now study the report," Bandula Jayasekara, the president's director general of media, said.

It is expected to be presented to parliament in December, officials have said, but the government has yet to give a date.

Many Western nations, India and others have said a credible report by the LLRC would, in conjunction with political concessions to minority Tamils, obviate the need for an outside inquiry.

The report says there appears to be enough evidence to warrant the government investigating incidents that may have occurred in the last months of the war, which ended in May 2009, the Sri Lankan weekly Sunday Times reported.

"However, the Commission has neither named the specific incidents nor identified the persons responsible for them," the newspaper said.

The U.N.-sponsored report on Sri Lanka says there is "credible evidence" the military killed thousands of civilians at the climax of the war, which ended in Sri Lankan victory.

The government has said civilians were killed but rejects the bulk of the U.N. report as a regurgitation of allegations "fabricated" by the Tamil Tigers' overseas propaganda network, and says its soldiers acted in accordance with international law.

© Reuters

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