Sri Lanka to seek UN reprieve over war crimes probe

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Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena Friday said he will seek "concessions" from the UN, including a special request to drop the war crime charges against its troops over the alleged killing of thousands of minority Tamils during the brutal civil war with the LTTE.

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.

Addressing the editors of local media here Friday, he said he will ask the UN General Assembly to allow Sri Lanka to amicably resolve war crime allegations against the government forces during the 37-year war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE).

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 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.

"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 allegations of war crimes."