Sri Lanka rejects war crime allegations

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, June 6 (UPI) -- Sri Lanka will fight attempts in the United Nations to investigate it for alleged war crimes against civilians, the country's foreign minister said.

Rohitha Bogollagama dismissed allegations from human rights groups that more than 20,000 civilians were killed last month in clashes with Tamil militants, most of them from government shelling, The Times of London reported Saturday.

"Nothing could have provoked us to fire on civilians," Bogollagama said Friday, blaming all civilian deaths on Tamil rebels.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon was to address the U.N. Security Council Friday night in a closed-door session about his trip to Sri Lanka, The Times reported.

Sri Lanka has denied human rights groups access to the camps where 270,000 Tamils were interned after their surrender last month.