[ BBC ]

Sri Lanka has dismissed calls for an independent inquiry into claims of human rights abuses by the military, saying its own courts will investigate. Foreign minister Rohita Bogollagama said the claims were being used to boost accusations of genocide against the country’s Tamil minority. Aid agencies and the United Nations have called for an inquiry. The exact number of civilians killed in the final weeks of the long-running war has not been established, but one report put it as high as 20,000.

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[Inner City Press]

After a weekend of bombing and “bloodbath” in Sri Lanka, the first official to speak out at the UN in New York was UK minister David Miliband. He stopped to speak to the Press on his way into the UN Security Council’s meeting on the Middle East. He said he has arranged to speak with Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama later in the day. Inner City Press asked if the UK will be proposing a Security Council resolution on Sri Lanka, and for the UK’s position on Sri Lanka’s application to the International Monetary Fund for a $1.9 billion loan.

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[BBC]

The Sri Lankan government has rejected fresh calls for a temporary ceasefire with Tamil Tiger rebels. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told the BBC that if the rebels laid down their arms there would be no need for a halt in the fighting. Reports of growing civilian casualties have prompted the UN, European Union and India to urge a ceasefire. In a briefing to the UN Security Council a few days ago, its humanitarian chief, Sir John Holmes, said the restrictions on the movement of civilians into and out of the camps were unacceptable.

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