Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa said the former commander of the army should “shut up”, after stating he would testify against a military colleague accused of war crimes.

In an interview to Ceylon Today, Mr Rajapaksa rebuked former army commander Sarath Fonseka’s comments.

“Everybody was shocked by Fonseka’s statement,” he said. “An Army Commander should not behave like this.”

When asked what the former army commander should do next, Mr Rajapaksa responded, “he should shut up.”

The former president also denied reports of human rights violations taking place during the armed conflict.

The Sri Lankan government illegally imported commodities from North Korea in violation of sanctions placed on the country, according to United Nations experts last week.

UN experts monitoring sanctions named Sri Lanka, alongside other countries including India, Pakistan and China as having flouted restrictions on North Korea.

The report found that between October 2016 and April 2017, Sri Lanka imported approximately US$ 1,860,516 in iron and steel from North Korea. Tens of thousands of dollars of copper were also imported during that period.

The Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe has reiterated his stance that the government "has no desire to send soldiers to any court", Adaderana reported. 

"The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, ratified by Sri Lanka, will be effective only for the future and not for the past", he added, echoing the words of this former foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera. 

"The convention will be effective only after October this year."

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The Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena leaves for New York today to attend the 72nd UN General Assembly which commences on September 19. 

Mr Sirisena is scheduled to address the Assembly on September 19. 

According to the Colombo Page, Mr Sirisena will "brief the world leaders regarding the consensual politics in Sri Lanka as well as regarding the reconciliation and peace, and the initiatives taken by the government after declaring the year 2017 as the Year for Poverty Alleviation and also regarding the program for the concept of Green Development."

Sinhalese residents and Buddhist monks in Trincomalee staged a protest against Sarath Fonseka and Ranjan Ramanayake on Saturday.

Sri Lankan troops serving as United Nations peacekeepers in the Central African Republic received medals in a ceremony to mark their contribution this week.

The Japanese government has committed to providing US$1.2 million in aid towards demining efforts in the Northern Province.

The Sri Lankan navy received a ship from the Indian government on Saturday.

Sinhala Buddhist monks staged a rally in Colombo yesterday in support of Myanmar’s military offensive in the Rakhine state, which has displaced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims.

The Tamil National People's Front continued its commemorations of Lt. Col. Thileepan with tributes to mark the second day of his hunger strike.