Colombo, Jan. 21 -- Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has acknowledged that more than 20,000 people who disappeared during the country's decades-long civil war were dead, the media reported on Tuesday.
The Sri Lankan Army defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009 after 26 years of bloody conflict. During this time, Rajapaksa was the country's Defence Secretary and played a leading role in bringing the war to an end.
Rajapaksa made the remarks while meeting with UN resident co-ordinator Hanaa Singer in Colombo, BBC reported.
In a statement issued by his office said that most of the missing had been conscripted by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
"President Rajapaksa outlined his plans to address the issue of missing p...