Sri Lanka, March 26 -- Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has rejected the UK government's allegations of widespread human rights violations during Sri Lanka's war against the LTTE and urged the current government to defend former armed forces personnel facing foreign sanctions.

Responding to the UK's decision to impose sanctions on former Chief of Defence Staff Shavendra Silva, former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda, and former Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya, Rajapaksa condemned the move as being based on 'unproven allegations.'

He also criticized the sanctions on Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, known as 'Karuna Amman,' describing it as an attempt to penalize anti-LTTE Tamils to appease the Tamil diaspora in the UK.

Rajapaksa high...