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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lkdood" data-source="post: 7458496" data-attributes="member: 92282">By Ranga Sirilal           COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri  Lanka's committee probing war crimes said on Wednesday it does not have  the legal power to investigate alleged rights abuses during the final  stages of the South Asian nation's 25-year separatist conflict.           The committee of local experts, appointed by President  Mahinda Rajapaksa, said it has had trouble finding public officials  identified in a U.S. State Department report which blamed both sides in  the war for committing rights abuses.           The State Department report released last year detailed  possible atrocities by both government forces and the Liberation Tigers  of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the final battle of the war last May and  urged Colombo to investigate the allegations. More than 100,000 people  died during the war.           Sri Lanka has a long history of inquiries into rights abuses  that have largely failed to hold anyone accountable.           S.M. Samarakoon, the head of the Sri Lankan committee, said  his group did not have the same statutory powers as a commission of  inquiry. Analysts say the committee was appointed only as an advisory  body and its investigations have not been transparent.           "There are so may commissions of inquiry and committees  appointed. None of the previous commissions or committees have given  their findings to the public," said Bhavani Fonseka, a legal analyst at  the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo.           Samarakoon said the committee had not yet investigated  allegations about the killing of captives or combatants who had sought  to surrender, or other "disappearances".           "However, the committee will endeavour to complete its  inquiries and submit its findings and recommendations to the president  by (the) end of July, 2010," it said in a statement.           The State Department report, requested by Congress, detailed  allegations of government shelling of civilians during the early months  of 2009 and killing of LTTE fighters who had surrendered.           Sri Lanka is facing heavy Western pressure over its human  rights record, pressure the government blames on members of the Tamil  diaspora who have settled in European countries or the United States and  are angry the LTTE were beaten.            Analysts have said Sri Lanka's failure to investigate  properly such allegations could cost it an annual $150 million worth of  trade concessions from the European Union that help its garment  industry, Sri Lanka's top exporter.           However, Sri Lanka has relaxed emergency regulations, with a  journalist who had been sentenced to 20 years in jail on conspiracy  charges recently pardoned.<a href="http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-48432720100512?sp=true" target="_blank">reuters</a></blockquote>

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