Lanka military not responsible for war crime abuse - FM

Rasika Somarathna in Kandy

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama in the presence of UN Chief Ban Ki-moon on Saturday, brushed off certain internationally originated calls for a probe against Sri Lanka over possible involvement in ‘war crimes’.

Addressing a question from a journalist during a media briefing in which the UN Chief also participated, the Minister categorically stated that such a question would not arise as the Sri Lankan military was not responsible for any such abuse.

The Minister also noted that such a call was not justified in the context of the Sri Lankan scenario as what prevailed in the North was a hostage situation and as a sovereign country, the Government had every right to take necessary steps to rescue a section of its citizens held captive by a terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, UN Chief Ban Ki-moon answering a question from the media over an alleged comment made by him regarding an imminent ‘blood bath’ during the last days of the military operation to save civilians,’ said he had not used that particular word.

The UN Chief said what he did was to voice concern over the safety of trapped civilians during final confrontations between the LTTE and Security Forces which the media had interpreted using the above phrase.The UN Chief also heavily criticized the use of civilians as a human shield by the LTTE.