He made the call at a weekend meeting at Temple Trees with civil society representatives, said National Fisheries Solidarity secretary Herman Kumara.

The PM noted that certain incidents that had taken place on 29 May 2009 as well as the agreements reached between ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa and the UNHRC had prompted calls for an investigation against Sri Lanka, said Kumara.

He asked the civil society to support the government and defeat attempts by communalistic groups and religious extremists who would try to sabotage a local investigation.

No trust in investigations

At the meeting civil society representatives said they had no trust in the investigations that had so far been conducted into killings in the north, east and the south, mass graves and political prisoners.

Responding, premier Wickremesinghe said the first thing that should be done was to prevent room for an international investigation, said Kumara.

Although we had reservations about the government conduct, we had to agree to his request, he said.

The PM said foreign judges, most probably from Commonwealth member nations, would be invited to take part in the local probe, but only in the capacity of observers.

A committee comprising government and civil society representatives has been appointed to take forward the plan suggested by the premier.

Co-coordinators of the committee are minister Rajitha Senaratne and Saman Ratnapriya, co-convener of Citizens Power.