The Sri Lankan government has accused the United Nations of having a hidden agenda after it set up a panel to investigate alleged human rights abuses during the final stages of the civil war. A government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella described the appointment of a three-member panel by the UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon as an attempt to provide oxygen to the Tamil Tigers. Human Rights Groups have accused the government troops and the defeated Tamil Tiger Rebels of war crimes, allegations which have been denies.