Sri Lanka’s president has written to US President-elect Donald Trump in the hope of pressuring the United States to stop pursuing accountability for war crimes committed by Sri Lankan troops.
“I will write to President (Donald) Trump to ask him to free us from these accusations,” the New Indian Express reported Maithripala Sirisena telling a Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) membership drive in Galle.
He went on to state that he had send a “special message” asking for support at the UN Human Rights Council. “I am asking him to help completely clear my country (of war crimes allegations) and allow us to start afresh.”
Mr Sirisena said he had made a similar appeal to the newly appointed Secretary-General-designate of the United Nations Antonio Guterres.
The Sri Lankan president went on to boast that he was able to save members of the former regime from facing war crimes charges.
“I was able to save the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and our valiant soldiers by giving the UN Human Rights Council necessary messages,” he said in his speech.