Key nations shun Sri Lanka's 'terrorism' seminar

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka is to hold an international seminar starting Tuesday to share lessons on its bloody defeat of Tamil rebels, but major nations have declined to send delegations amid war crime allegations.The island's government said the massive military offensive that finally defeated the Tamil Tigers two years ago was a victory over terrorism, and that other countries could benefit from studying its success.But New York-based Human Rights Watch has urged a boycott of the seminar, entitled "Defeating terrorism, Sri Lankan experience", due to claims that thousands of civilians died in military bombing of so-called no-fire zones.Of the 54 countries invited, about 12 have declined, officials told AFP.Among the nations not sending delegations are the United States, Britain, Australia, France, Japan and Switzerland, who had all pressed Sri Lanka to investigate the alleged war crimes.China, the island's key arms supplier, is co-sponsoring the conference, which will also be attended by a delegation from Russia, another strong ally of President Mahinda Rajapakse."The Sri Lankan approach that succeeded in defeating the (rebels) was the result of learning from years of fighting insurgency, strong political will and harnessing popular support," a statement from the seminar said."The panel presenting the Sri Lankan experience will share their knowledge on counter-insurgency and enumerate contributory factors in militarily defeating the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam)."A panel of UN experts last month put together what they called "credible allegations" of government forces shelling civilians, bombing hospitals and killing surrendering rebel leaders."Sri Lanka's self-proclaimed 'model' of counter-insurgency included repeatedly shelling civilians, targeting hospitals, and trying to prevent the world from finding out about it," Human Rights Watch said.HRW's Asia Director Brad Adams said no rights-respecting nation should take part in the conference and described the three-day meet as an attempt to whitewash a

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