Lanka President takes U-turn over war crimes probe

Taking a U-turn on Sri Lanka's pledges to the UNHRC over war-time atrocities against Tamils, President Maithripala Sirisena said on Wednesday the country needs "space" to settle its own problems "without interference" over the issue.

Sirisena also announced that he would be sending his own team to counter the allegations against Sri Lanka at the ongoing UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in Geneva.

Sri Lankan government troops were accused of killing at least 40,000 ethnic Tamil civilians in the final months of the island's 37-year guerrilla war that ended in May 2009 with the death of LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran.

"On March 22 and 23, our issue will be taken up. I am sending my representatives," Sirisena told reporters.

Sirisena, who after coming to power in January 2015 had pledged to ensure accountability for war-time abuses, said Sri Lanka had moved on after the end of the separatist war now for over 10 years.

"We need space to settle our own problems without ...