Sri Lanka to recall Mali peacekeeper

Sri Lanka’s military said that it will recall its commander leading a U.N. peacekeeping contingent in Mali after the world body asked him to be repatriated over his human rights background.

Military spokesman Sumith Atapattu said Saturday that it will comply with the U.N. request, even though it doesn’t believe Col. Kalana Amunupure is guilty of any human rights abuses in the last stages of Sri Lanka’s civil war.

“There may be allegations. But he has not done anything wrong. He has not committed any war crimes. We will appeal and send him back,” Atapattu said.

A report in The Guardian in July quoted a confidential report that claimed the commander, who was not named in the report, is alleged to have committed war crimes during the civil war. It said the report was produced by the South Africa based International Truth and Justice Project, and also cited other Sri Lankans taking part in U.N. peacekeeping operations.

The Sri Lanka Army called the deployment to Mali “one more feather in its cap” when it was set to start sending the Combat Convoy Company to serve in the U.N. peacekeeping mission.