Sri Lanka asks U.S. to stop war crimes probe

The Sri Lankan government has asked the United States government to stop a scheduled interview with its Chief of Defense Staff General Sarath Fonseka over an alleged war crimes probe, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told reporters on Monday.

"The Department of Homeland Security (of the United States) should forthwith desist from any endeavor to interview General Fonseka," Bogollagama said.

According to Bogollagama, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had called Fonseka for an interview on Nov. 4 in Oklahoma.

The objective of the interview is to use him "as a source against human rights violations done by Gotabhaya Rajapakse, the defense secretary (of Sri Lanka)," the Sri Lankan foreign minister said.

Bogollagama said the Sri Lankan government's position was conveyed through the U.S. Ambassador in Colombo Patricia Butenis.

He asserted that Fonseka was not within his right to convey to a third party the information which he was privy to and was vital to the island's security.

Sri Lanka's human rights record during the final stages of the military campaign against Tamil Tiger rebels came to be questioned in a U.S. State Department report.

The U.S. State Department presented a report to Congress last month containing 170 incidents between May 2 and 18. It is based mostly on internal reports to Washington from the U. S. Embassy in Colombo, satellite imagery, international relief organizations and media outlets.

Source: Xinhua