WAR CRIMES INVESTIGATION IN SRI LANKA.

Any credible accusation of human rights violations committed during the final bloody phase of Sri Lanka's war against Tamil Tiger separatists should be investigated, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday. "I'd like to ask the Sri Lankan government to recognize the international call for accountability and full transparency," Ban told reporters after he briefed the U.N. Security Council on a trip to Sri Lanka where he visited refugee camps and flew over the former conflict zone. "Whenever and wherever there are credible allegations for the violations of international humanitarian law there should be a proper investigation," he said. Human rights groups have criticized the government for what they say was a wanton disregard for human life during the final months of the war by continuously using heavy artillery to shell a tiny strip of land where the Tigers had retreated to along with hundreds of thousands of civilians. Ban and other U.N. officials accused the Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of holding the civilians hostage and using them as human shields as they fought to hold on to their sliver of coast in northeastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE and Sri Lankan government have rejected the charges. U.N. officials say it is unclear how many civilians died during the final phase of the war, which ended when the government declared victory over the LTTE on May 18. U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes has said that several thousand civilians were killed. Diplomatic sources have told Reuters that the figure was probably higher than 10,000 but below 20,000.