COLOMBO: The United States said on Saturday it remained "deeply concerned" about alleged Sri Lankan war crimes as it distanced itself from a junior US military officer who questioned the credibility of the accusations against the island.
The US government rejected an invitation to attend a seminar hosted by Sri Lanka earlier in the week to showcase its success in crushing Tamil separatists by May 2009.
However, the US defence attaché Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence Smith attended the seminar as an "observer" and remarks the credibility of rebel surrender claims was in doubt.
A key charge in a recently compiled UN report accuses Sri Lanka of executing Tiger political leaders who are said to have worked out a surrender deal through Western diplomats including those of the United States in Colombo.
Smith told the seminar in Colombo that offers of surrender came from the "mouthpieces" of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), whose words had not demonstrated any control over the leadership.
"I think we need to examine the credibility of those offers," Smith said in his remarks which received wide coverage in pro-government media in Colombo to buttress Sri Lanka's claims that there was no surrender by rebels.
"Remarks earlier this week by the US embassy's Defence Attaché reflected his personal opinions," the US State Department statement said.
"They do not reflect the policy of the United States government."
It said the Washington "remains deeply concerned by the findings of the (UN) Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka" which said there were "credible allegations" those Sri Lankan troops killed thousands of civilians.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
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