The UN has asked the Sri Lankan government to provide explanations with regard to the circumstances of the death of three senior LTTE cadres and their families during the last stages of military operations to defeat the LTTE in May this year.The request for explanations follows the recent statement made by Gen (Rtd) Sarath Fonseka, an opposition candidate in the forthcoming Presidential election, alleging that such killings had taken place, in an interview with the weekly newspaper Sunday Leader on December 13th 2009. Later, the Fonseka in a hurriedly called press conference had denied that he had made such statement and said that no battle field commander had acted in contravention of the international norms.The letter by the UN Special Rapporteur, Phillip Alston, addressed to Mrs. Kshenuka Senewiratna, the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN Office in Geneva states that, ‘Theses allegations were made by the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army at the time of the events and subsequent Chief of Defence Staff (now retired) Genral Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka, in an interview to the newspaper The Sunday Leader. The accounts of journalists embedded with the SLA 58th Brigade confirm some of the alleged circumstances of the death of Messers. Nadeshan, Pulidevan and Ramesh and their families’.Sri Lanka government is making a careful study of the UN Rapporteur’s letter, prior to a formal response, and any action that may be necessary.A day after he distanced himself from the controversial interview, the Mahinda Rajapaksa government announced that a committee of representatives would be appointed to clarify and counter the statement made by the former Army commander, General Sarath Fonseka, to the weekly.