US asks Sri Lanka to accept offer of UN panel

Washington, Jun 25 (PTI) The US today asked the Sri Lankan government to “take advantage” of the opportunity and accept an offer of a UN team that is probing alleged human rights abuses in the final months of the war with LTTE.

The UN on Tuesday announced that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had set up a three-member panel to look into alleged human rights violations during the final stages of the war against LTTE in Sri Lanka.

“We urge the Sri Lankan government to take advantage of this team... take advantage of their offer,” State Department Deputy spokesman Mark Toner quoted US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice as saying.

The UN panel is headed by Indonesia’s former attorney general Marzuki Darusman, and has two other members Yazmin Sooka of South Africa and Steven Ratner, a lawyer from the United States.