SL will urge UN to remove war crime charges against its troops: Sirisena

Sri Lanka will seek "concessions" from the UN, including a special request to the drop war crime charges against its troops during the civil war with the LTTE, President Maithripala Sirisena said Friday.

Sirisena, who will lead a delegation to the 73rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, will address the general debate on September 25.

According to the government figures, around 20,000 people are missing due to various conflicts including the civil war with Lankan Tamils in the north and east which claimed at least 100,000 lives.

Relatives of the missing Tamil people allege that the Lankan state - particularly its army, navy and police - were behind most of the disappearances.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE), which led the separatist war for a separate Tamil homeland, was finally crushed by the Lankan military in 2009 with the death its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Addressing the media persons here Friday, Sirisena said he would use his address at the UN general assembly later this month to make a case for removal of war crimes charges.

"I will make a special request at the UN," he said, adding that "I will also make a written request to the (UN) human rights council to settle this issue of war crimes."
"I want to tell them to remove these charges and give us some concessions to resolve this issue."