Charles Haviland . BBC Colombo Correspondent

	Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said she supported the formation of an internal Sri Lankan commission, while saying it should have the mandate to investigate allegations of war crimes.

However the recently established body has continued to come under external and internal criticism.

For several weeks, there have been heated exchanges between the Sri Lankan government, which denies that its forces were excessively heavy-handed in defeating the Tamil Tiger rebels last year, and a series of international campaigning groups which allege that they were, even, that they may have committed war crimes.

	Minister Professor G.L.Peiris

International and internal critics want an independent international inquiry into the issue. But Hillary Clinton, meeting her Sri Lankan counterpart, G.L. Peiris, in Washington, said she supports Colombo’s own plan – an internal eight-member team which is starting a behind-closed-doors investigation into reconciliation and the final seven years of the conflict.

Mrs Clinton said the initiative was a “commendable” one; if seen as independent it could help advance accountability, she said, adding that it should be able to look into war crimes allegations.

The commission’s stated mandate mentions individual responsibility for “events” but doesn’t mention war crimes.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa told Aljazeera television this week that action might be taken against people who’d committed crimes but no one could be punished for – as he put it – defeating terrorism.

In the latest criticism of the new panel, an adviser and member of previous Sri Lankan commissions looking into atrocities, M.C.M. Iqbal, said successive governments had failed to use them to secure justice and alleged that the new panel members were not objective.

The foreign minister, Mr Peiris, retorted that they were people of stature and that the commission was going to succeed – “we want it to succeed”, he said.