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Sri Lankan general on notice over war crimes
Agence France Presse - November 2, 2009
Colombo – Sri Lanka's top military commander, General Sarath Fonseka, is to be questioned by US authorities over allegations of war crimes during the war against Tamil Tiger rebels, Colombo's Sunday Times has reported.
General Fonseka, who is visiting his daughters in Oklahoma, had been asked to present himself for an interview with the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, the newspaper said.
The move "prompted fears in Colombo that Washington is asserting its legal authority over the 'war crimes report"' published last month, the Times said, referring to a US State Department dossier on alleged war crimes.
The report outlined excesses by security forces and Tamil Tigers during the final stages of fighting this year. The report, submitted to the US Congress, refers to General Fonseka having overstepped his brief.
There was no immediate comment from the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry or the US embassy in Colombo, but the Times said the Sri Lankan embassy in Washington was providing legal help to General Fonseka.
The general, who holds a "green card", allowing him permanent residency in the US, travelled there last week to visit his two daughters.
The State Department report cited allegations in which Tamil rebels took boys and girls to join their guerilla force and in which Government forces broke a ceasefire as well as killed rebels who surrendered. It also cited reports in which troops or Government-backed paramilitaries "abducted and in some instances then killed Tamil civilians, particularly children and young men".
The report covered the period from January until the end of May, when troops defeated the Tamil Tigers at the end of a decades-old separatist conflict.
Sri Lanka said last week that it was appointing a panel to investigate the allegations after initially dismissing the report as "unsubstantiated".
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