UN Human Rights chief says will continue probe into Sri Lanka war crimes despite ban

Despite Sri Lanka's refusal to grant visas to the United Nations (UN) team investigating into alleged war crimes in the country, the organization said it will continue its probe into the matter.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday said the UN team investigating Sri Lanka's rights record would not be permitted to enter because only Sri Lankan authorities could investigate the allegations.

UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillay said her team would rely on technology, like internet phone service Skype and satellite imagery, to carry out its investigation, the BBC reports.

Citing the team's success in producing "highly credible" reports on abuses in Syria despite having no access to the country, Pillay said that she was confident that her team would be able to do the same in Sri Lanka.

A report published by the UN three years ago said around 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final weeks of the Sri Lankan civil war, largely as a result of government shelling.

Sri Lanka's army defeated separatist Tamil Tiger rebels after 26 years of conflict in May 2009, bringing the civil war to an end

Both sides have been accused of committing war crimes, the report said.