TOKYO, Jul. 29, 2010 (Kyodo News International) -- Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and his Sri Lankan counterpart Gamini Lakshman Peiris met Thursday in Tokyo, with the Japanese minister set to urge Sri Lanka to reconcile with the United Nations following their standoff over alleged war crimes committed by government forces in the South Asian country.
Okada and Peiris were also expected to discuss Japan's support for the reconstruction of Sri Lanka, which saw the end of a conflict between the government and ethnic Tamil rebels last year after more than 25 years of civil war.
Sri Lanka has repeatedly resisted international calls to investigate allegations of crimes against humanity and gross human rights abuses while battling the rebels who were defeated in May last year.
The United Nations has reported that at least 7,000 ethnic Tamil civilians were killed in the final months of fighting between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger guerrillas. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has set up a panel of experts to look into the alleged war crimes.
Earlier this month, Ban decided to close U.N. offices in Colombo following protests against the world body led by a Sri Lankan Cabinet minister.
Separately, Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Masayuki Naoshima met with Basil Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan minister of economic development.
While the Sri Lankan minister proposed that Japan and his country launch preparatory talks to examine the possibility of signing a bilateral free trade agreement, Naoshima said he will talk with other Cabinet members about the matter, a Japanese official said.
Sri Lanka has an FTA with India and Pakistan.
