The US State Department was unfair in the observations made about the government's response to the report of Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) said President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing editors at Temple Trees this morning.

President Rajapaksa said that on the matter of accountability a clear statement on how the government intends acting on LLRC recommendations was made by the Leader of the House when the report was tabled in Parliament.

The President also said that there is an unfair selectivity in dealing with Sri Lanka on this matter by referring only to the last phase of a conflict that went on for nearly 30 years.

Some countries were having commissions sitting for several years on armed conflicts caused by them, he said.

The President also observed that while raising issues of accountability with Sri Lanka, the US had recently brought provisions in law to detain persons for any length of time outside the normal law.

Explaining Sri Lankan position further, Minister of External Affairs Prof. G L. Peiris reiterated that the Leader of the House Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva had clearly stated the manner in which the government would act on these matters.

"There was no question of the government trying to evade matters of accountability that had been mentioned in LLRC recommendations, as this matter had been clearly explained by the Leader of the House when tabling the report in Parliament," the Hon. Prof. Peiris said.

On the alleged absence of a comprehensive plan for implementation of the report, Prof. Peiris said this criticism was not justified as the focus of this comment was confined only to the closing stages of the conflict.

There was a lack of a uniform approach on these matters with regard to Sri Lanka, Prof. Peiris said. Standards that are being required from Sri Lanka are not demanded from places where other conflicts have taken place.

It is necessary that the values and standards in relation to such conflicts that are being demanded from Sri Lanka should apply to all, the Minister said.