COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lanka announced on Thursday it would repossess part of a strategic oil storage depot from India's state oil firm after Delhi supported international calls to probe war crimes on the island.

Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said there were provisions to repossess tanks that were not used by the Indian Oil Company's local unit, Lanka IOC, in the northeastern port of Trincomalee.

"If they are not using the tanks, we can use them," Rambukwella told reporters. "This is for the country."