Colombo - Sri Lanka used its diplomatic channels to call on the British Ambassador, Dominic Chilcott, to the foreign ministry office expressed "deep displeasure" on Thursday over his remarks of Britain was against the tactics adopted by the Tiger guerrillas, but did not consider their demand for a separate state as illegal on early this week public meeting in Colombo. The British Ambassador also warned Sri Lanka to clean up its human rights record or risk international sanctions. "I am not saying that the political aspiration for Eelam is illegitimate, any more than I would argue that the Scottish National Party's (SNP) goal of an independent Scotland is illegitimate," the British Ambassador, Dominic Chilcott said in the meeting.

"Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona drew attention to the High Commissioner's comment, 'I am not saying that the political aspiration for Eelam (separate Tamil state) is illegitimate' and expressed the government's deep concern," the foreign ministry said.The statement said that Kohona made it clear that Chilcott's remarks were unacceptable "given the British government's categorical rejection of the creation of a separate State in Sri Lanka."

"At a time when the painstaking process of evolving a negotiated political settlement was under way, such sentiments would have a negative impact and send confusing signals," Kohona said.Chilcott had said that Britain had a direct interest in ending the separatist conflict in its former colony, partly because of the law and order problems in London caused by rival Sri Lankan groups.The Ambassador also warned that it would be a mistake to view something as sensitive as human rights as a purely internal matter.

"Those who argue for the inviolability of the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of a country are swimming against the tide of history," he said."There are many non-military interventions that a country can make -- from arguing and persuading, to economic and political sanctions," he said. Sri Lanka is pressing for a military victory over the Tamil Tigers and since 1972 the conflict has left at least 80,000 people dead. Sri Lanka has been pronounced by media rights activists and rights groups as the most dangerous place in the world for journalists and aid workers to work.

Escalation of violence and enforced human rights violations against civilians in Sri Lanka have claimed at least 5,800 civilians, while thousands were abducted and hundreds were disappeared in last two years alone.