Sri Lanka's Sarath Fonseka urges co-operation over war
22 May 2012
Sri Lanka must co-operate with any international investigation into alleged war crimes, ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka has told the BBC, a day after his release from jail.
He said some Sri Lankan leaders were "hiding their faces" over the conduct of the war, as if they were guilty.
But Mr Fonseka, who led the army to its 2009 victory over Tamil rebels, denied thousands of civilians had been killed.
There have have been repeated calls for an international probe into the war.
Sri Lanka's army put an end to 26 years of brutal civil war when they defeated the separatist Tamil Tigers in May 2009.
Subsequently Mr Fonseka fell out with President Mahinda Rajapaksa over who should get credit for that victory.
He was jailed for corruption in 2010 after challenging him for the presidency.
Nevertheless the final phase of that war has been a source of considerable controversy, with both sides accused of war crimes.
Human rights groups estimate that up to 40,000 civilians were killed in the final months of the war. The government recently released its own estimate, concluding that about 9,000 people perished during that period
In March the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution urging Sri Lanka to do more to address alleged abuses during the final phase of war with Tamil rebels.
