"Those who claim that this Office on Missing Persons (OMP) would betray the security forces, I would like to tell them that I am ready to meet them and argue our case," Sirisena told a television channel yesterday.
He denied that the move was aimed at targeting government troops.
"We only want to give redress to those who have been affected not to punish anyone," he said.
The function of the office is to establish whether a missing person is dead or alive and, if they are dead, discover when, how and where they died.
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While the Tamil rights groups have welcomed the move, the Sinhala nationalist majority groups stay opposed.
They said the move will extract revenge from security forces for needing the LTTE's militancy which killed thousands of civilians and soldiers.
Amidst opposition protests Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said the bill had been approved without a vote.He said the opposition did not take his offer to debate and go for a vote if needed.
The draft bill to establish an OMP was passed with amendments in Parliament without a vote on August 11.
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