The United States says it supports an international mechanism to help probe allegations of human rights abuses during Sri Lanka's civil war, according to AP. Rights groups allege that thousands of civilians died when the Sri Lankan military routed the Tamil Tiger rebels in the final months of a quarter-century conflict in 2009. A U.N. experts panel has said violations by both sides could amount to war crimes. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday that Sri Lanka has conducted some reporting on alleged rights abuses, but an international mechanism to help provide a "transparent accounting" of Sri Lanka's actions was in everyone's interest. In an interview Monday Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa rejected the idea as a violation of its sovereignty.
