Sri Lanka faces calls for civil war inquiry ahead of Commonwealth summit

British Prime Minister David Cameron will confront Sri Lankan president as the Commonwealth leaders meet in Colombo over new evidence that show Mahinda Rajapaksa's government forces carried out atrocities against Tamil civilians.

Cameron has come under renewed pressure to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit (Chogm) in Colombo.

The move came after reports emerged that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will not be attending the summit because of opposition by ethnic Tamils in his country.

According to the Independent, the boycott by Singh is all the more diplomatically awkward for Cameron because the two leaders are expected to hold bilateral talks in New Delhi this week on the eve of the controversial summit.

But in a broadcast for Deepam TV, a UK-based Tamil station, Cameron insisted he had to attend Chogm to keep up pressure on the Sri Lankan government.

Britain's Tamil community and Labour have called on Cameron to boycott Chogm, or downgrade the delegation by sending Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Indian external affairs minister Salman Khurshid is expected to attend the summit in Singh's place.