China backs Sri Lanka over probe into humanitarian crimes

China today assured its support to Sri Lanka to safeguard its sovereignty as the country gears up to face pressure at the forthcoming UN Human Rights Council meeting for a credible international probe into charges of humanitarian crimes during the war against LTTE.

The assurance was given by top Chinese leader Wu Bangguo during his meeting with visiting Lankan Prime Minister D M Jayaratne, on the sidelines of the 15th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) at Chinese city of Xiamen.

China will continue to support Sri Lanka’s efforts to safeguard its national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as respect Sri Lanka’s path of development and its domestic and foreign policies, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Wu as telling Jayaratne.

Wu’s assurance came as Sri Lanka may come under heavy pressure at the next week’s UN Human Rights Council meeting, which is expected to take stock of situation in the island nation.

Amnesty International, an international rights group, has slammed Lanka’s internal inquiry into the war against the Tamil Tigers, describing it as ‘flawed at every level’ and sought an independent investigations into allegations of war crimes, PTI reports.