Colombo - Sri Lanka, reacting to the UN Human Rights Council adopting a resolution in Geneva commending the government for its commitment to human rights, hailed countries supporting the motion.

Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, speaking on state-run television, said the resolution adopted Wednesday with a comprehensive majority was a strength to the country.

Twenty nine countries - including China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia - voted in favour of the motion while 12 countries voted against and six abstained, Samarasinghe said.

The resolution, tabled by Sri Lanka and nations including China, Cuba and Egypt, allows the government to let aid agencies have access to camps for the internally displaced "as may be appropriate."

A bloc of Western nations, whose counter-proposal was defeated, wanted full access for aid groups like the International Committee of the Red Cross and UN agencies.

They also wanted an investigation into alleged human rights violations during the fighting which erupted during the last three years in which the rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were crushed.

According to UN figures more than 7,000 civilians were killed, but there has been no independent evidence to confirm who was responsible for the killings during the clashes between government troops and rebels.

Some 300,000 people have been displaced by the fighting and are living in camps, and the UN agencies, international and local NGOs and the ICRC has been demanding unimpeded access to these camps, but the government has allowed in only a selected number of aid workers.(dpa)