UN urges Lanka to start probe into war crimes

COLOMBO, Oct 23 (AFP): A United Nations expert warned Monday that Sri Lanka must speed up its own long-stalled investigation into war crimes by troops or risk action by the international community.

Pablo de Greiff, the UN special rapporteur on the promotion of justice and reparation, said Sri Lanka had been slow to deliver on its promise of justice for atrocities during the island's bloody 37-year civil war.

He said allegations of war crimes levelled last month against Sri Lanka's then-ambassador to Brazil, who was a general during the war era, underscored the risks faced by senior military officers past and present.

"As the recent case presented in Brazil against a former member of the armed forces demonstrates, accountability will be sought either here or abroad," de Greiff said in Colombo on Monday.