News: U.S. State Department

MR. TONER: I’m – no, I’m not aware of it. I’ll have to take the question. Go ahead, Tejinder. QUESTION: The defense secretary of Sri Lanka, Rajapaska, in an interview with headlines today, has rejected calls by the UN, U.S., and other international communities calling for war crimes investigation. He said actually, how can an international mechanism kick in? He says we have done nothing wrong. So what is the reaction of the U.S. and the ongoing UN efforts on this? MR. TONER: Well, we continue to call on a transparent accounting of Sri Lanka’s actions, and we believe the UN panel of experts is a mechanism that should be taken advantage of in order to carry out that kind of examination and accounting. I’m aware that Sri Lanka has also conducted some reporting on human rights abuses, alleged human rights abuses, but we still believe that an international mechanism to look at these is in everyone’s interest. QUESTION: He – however, but he redefined the international community. He says these are not the international community; Russia, China, Africa, Middle East, and Southeast Asia is the international community, and they are supporting us. So – MR. TONER: Again, I’ll have to look at his remarks in greater detail, but broadly put, that’s our position.