Sri Lankan main opposition backs Mahinda Rajapaksa against international inquiry

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today got the backing from the main opposition United National Party in opposing an international inquiry into alleged war crimes during the last phase of the military campaign against the LTTE.

"We are opposed to any international inquiry. That has been our position," Tissa Attanayake, the UNP general secretary said.

The main opposition response came at the conclusion of the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting ( CHOGM) yesterday.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, on the sidelines ofthe summit, had warned Sri Lanka that his government would work with the UN Human Rights Council to set up an international inquiry if the country failed to address rights concerns by March next year.

Rajapaksa had rejected Cameron's warning, saying countries should not "dictate" to Sri Lanka.

Attanayake said Sri Lanka's own international mechanism,Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) would be adequate to deal with the allegations.

Sri Lankan troops were accused of committing human rights violations during the final phase of the conflict against the LTTE.

Sri Lanka maintains it is unfair for the international community to press for an inquiry on the last 4 months of the conflict when the island had suffered from the brutal terrorist campaign of the LTTE for 30 years.

Attanayake, however, blamed the government for becoming a party to the CHOGM declaration where the leaders had agreed to an international court on human rights.