Sri Lanka won't give into int'l pressure: president

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared here Friday that his government would not be buckled into pressure from the international community.

Addressing a state ceremony marking the second anniversary of the government troops' victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels, the Sri Lankan president said, "Sri Lanka can solve its own problems and human rights cannot be guaranteed by only including them in the constitution"

He was responding to the criticism of his government's rights record by a special panel appointed by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

The Ban Ki Moon's panel report released in mid-April had accused Sri Lanka of committing war crimes during the last concluding stage of the war against the rebels.

"We have established genuine human rights by eliminating terrorism," Rajapaksa said justifying the military action which displaced near 300,000 civilians in the former battle zones.

Rajapaksa's government maintains that they have done the Tamil population a favor by ending the rebels' over three decades old campaign to set up a separate Tamil homeland

He said his military campaign was aimed at liberating the Tamil population from clutches of terrorism.

Rajapaksa charged that Tamil diaspora was still active trying to destroy the island's international image. The government accused them of supplying the UN panel with unverified information on alleged rights abuses.

The 'Victory Day' parade was held with the participation of over 9,000 troops which included a colourful parade and a 21 gun salute.

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