One of Sri Lanka’s top naval officers has fled to Canada but federal officials are refusing to accept his refugee claim on the grounds he was complicit in war crimes during the troubled island’s long civil war against Tamil rebels.

Nadarajah Kuruparan was Commodore of the Sri Lanka Navy, third in rank behind the Admiral, when he retired in June 2009 — just weeks after his forces helped defeat the separatist Tamil Tigers in a conflict that left untold civilians dead.

On Aug. 4, 2009, he arrived at the Canadian border with his wife and two children and made a refugee claim, a development that has only now emerged with the release of a court ruling on his case. He has apparently lived in Toronto since then.

- news.nationalpost.com