04 September, 2009 - Published 14:26 GMT

Moon discusses 'execution' video

The United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki-Moon, has held discussions with the Sri Lankan human rights minister about allegations that some of his country's soldiers had summarily executed Tamil rebels.

A spokesman for the world body said the talks with Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe in Geneva also focused on the plight of Tamil civilians displaced by the government defeat of the rebels earlier this year.

A video clip aired by a British television last week shows a man dressed as a Sri Lankan soldier apparently shooting dead naked prisoners.

The Sri Lankan government says the video is fabricated.

US concerns

The US government has also raised serious concerns over the video footage.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice – the president of the Security Council this month – said on Thursday the report was disturbing, but it was not yet clear if the Security Council would take up the issue.

The comments by the US diplomat came a day after the UN said there should be an investigation into whether Sri Lankan soldiers executed unarmed Tamils.

The footage was circulated about a week ago by a group called Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS).

Regarding the nearly 300,000 displaced civilians now in government-run camps, it says it intends resettling most of them before the end of this year.