Colombo:
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa dismissed attempts to haul him for international war crime charges and said he was even ready "to go to the gallows" for defeating the Tamil rebels.
He said unnamed foreign elements were behind the LTTE and were trying to sabotage the government's military campaign which ended successfully earlier this week with the complete defeat of the guerrillas.
"There are some who tried to stop our military campaign by threatening to haul us before war crimes tribunals," Rajapakse said before a huge crowd at a public park in front of the national parliament.
"They are still trying to do that, but I am not afraid," the Lankan President said. "The strength I have is your support. I am even ready to go to the gallows on your behalf," he said as thousands waved national flags and cheered.
Earlier this month, the UK told Sri Lanka that it may face a potential war crimes probe over deaths of civilians in the conflict.
Rajapaksa, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said the Tamil Tigers had been completely defeated and had no possibility to resume their violent campaign for a separate state.
He said the defeat of the Tigers was not a defeat for the country's ethnic Tamil minority and asked for unity to rebuild the nation.
The drawn out war, Rajapaksa said, was no longer an excuse for not pushing ahead with economic development for the 20 million Sri Lankans.
"We had to overcome many obstacles in our battle against the Tigers. The international community was against us, but today they have begun supporting us," the President said.
His remarks came ahead of a visit by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who has voiced concern over the humanitarian situation in the aftermath of the war, saying civilians who managed to escape the fighting were being held in prison-like conditions.
Ban is due to travel to Sri Lanka's north on Saturday and have talks with Rajapaksa.