Sri Lanka's president on Sunday poured scorn on the United Nations over a report it published alleging that his military forces may have been guilty of atrocities during the island's civil war.
Mahinda Rajapakse did not name the UN directly but his government had declared that May Day rallies were a protest against UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, who commissioned the report that was released last Monday. Tens of thousands of ruling party activists cheered Rajapakse as he said the war against the Tamil Tigers, which ended in victory for the government in 2009, had been waged with respect for human rights.
"When we try to rebuild the country, we face various external threats, people creating problems. I want to tell you that we won't bow down to them," he told the crowd.
The UN report highlighted "credible allegations" that both the Sri Lankan army and Tamil Tiger rebels had been involved in violations that could amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity.
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