"Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Sarath Fonseka left the United States this morning to return to Colombo," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"He was not subject to any questioning prior to his departure by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or any other agency of the U.S. government," it added.

Sources said Fonseka's departure followed high-pressure diplomatic moves by the Sri Lankan government to prevent any questioning.

Fonseka holds permanent residency in the United States and had flown there on a diplomatic passport to visit his two daughters living in Oklahoma.

He had been originally invited by the U.S. government to Hawaii and Washington but that invitation was cancelled after the U.S. State Department, in a report to the U.S. Congress, said both the Sri Lankan government and ethnic minority fighters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam committed grave human rights violations in the final months of the war.

For example, the report cited a media report that Fonseka, who commanded the army in the last phase of the long and bloody battle to subdue the LTTE, had stated that the military had to overlook the traditional rules of war and even kill LTTE rebels who came to surrender carrying white flags. On Monday, the Sri Lankan government said it feared U.S. authorities were trying to compel Fonseka to provide evidence against Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's younger brother, on allegations of human rights violations.

The defense secretary is a U.S. citizen and had been interviewed by U.S. immigration agents when he was a member of Sri Lanka's delegation to the U.N. General Assembly in September.

The government said Fonseka, who maintains a home in Oklahoma, was asked to present himself for an interview on Nov. 4 in Oklahoma City. This was followed by a phone call to the general from an official of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

U.S. Ambassador Patricia Butenis was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Colombo where she was told by Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama that "whatever information Gen. Fonseka may have become aware of during his service with the government of Sri Lanka and in the course of his duties has a privileged status."

Similar representations were also made to the U.S. State Department in Washington.

In its statement Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry expressed its appreciation of "the receptive and constructive attitude adopted by the U.S. authorities" who had allowed Fonseka to leave the United States "without any damage to the national interest of Sri Lanka and the dignity of his office."