The Human Rights ministry says the general is contradicting his own statement.

General Sarath Fonseka alleges that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who’s Sri Lanka’s defence secretary, ordered that all the Tamil Tiger rebel leaders be killed and not allowed to surrender at the time the civl war ended in May.

General Fonseka also told the media on Sunday, that the defence secretary, sent a message to senior Tamil Tiger leaders that they should walk towards the military carrying white flags.

Defence Secretary and Basil Rajapaksa

But, he says, Mr Rajapaksa had instructed the field commanders to not to accommodate this, ordering instead that “they must all be killed”.

"I did not know anything about the surrender agreement. Puleethevan and Nadesan had negotiated to surrender with the defence secretary and Basil Rajapakse through Norwegians", said General Fonseka.

"None of them told me about this. I only learnt later from a journalist".
The General revealed at a press conference on Sunday.

Fonseka said in July

Reports from the end of the war say a group of rebel leaders were shot dead by the army while surrendering, even after getting assurances that their surrender arrangements made through diplomats and government politicians.

A senior government official, Rajiva Wijesinha, told the BBC that any such allegations should be looked into.

But, he said, only in July there was a report of General Fonseka himself boasting that “we destroyed anyone connected with the Tamil Tigers”.

That such decisions were made by those on the battlefront.