Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's president will appoint a home-grown committee to probe a US State Department report of possible war crimes at the end of Sri Lanka's 25-year war against the Tamil Tigers, the government said. Sri Lanka is facing heavy Western pressure over its human rights record, which the government blames on members of the Tamil diaspora who have settled in European countries or the United States and are angry the Tigers were beaten. The US issued a report on Thursday detailing possible atrocities by both government and LTTE at the final battle of the 25-year war, and urged Sri Lanka to investigate the allegations. (Reuters)