Member of Parliament Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman stated that the massacre of more than 600 unarmed policemen after they had surrendered to the LTTE can be considered as a war crime.

Taking part in the live political talk show 'Sathyagaraya' on ITN, he said that while massacres that took place under Pol Pot in Cambodia and using chemical weapons against the Kurdish people in Iraq could be considered war crimes, the last stages of the war in Sri Lanka did not see war crimes committed by Sri Lankan Forces.

LTTE could not be considered as a liberation movement as it had kept thousands of civilians as hostages at gunpoint in the last stages of the war. However, the Sri Lanka Forces rescued them and war crimes did not take place at that stage, he added.

The massacre of policemen on June 11, 1990 is a dark chapter in the history of separatist war. The policemen had surrendered following orders and were killed by the LTTE.

Karuna served as the LTTE Eastern Commander for years until he broke away in 2004. However, he said that he was not responsible for the massacre of policement as he was in the north at that time.