COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A U.S. diplomat said Friday that he has asked Sri Lanka to speedily investigate allegations of rights abuses during its civil war and resume talks with ethnic Tamil politicians to agree on power sharing in the former conflict zone.

Sri Lanka has said it may take up to five years to prosecute soldiers accused of killing ethnic Tamil civilians during the war. But U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert O. Blake said he emphasized the need to quickly act on a Sri Lankan war commission’s recommendation of a government inquiry into the allegations.