COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's presidential front-runner promised Friday he would rehabilitate and release all military personnel accused of abuses in the long civil war, and in what would be a setback for postwar reconciliation, cancel an agreement with the U.N. to investigate alleged war crimes.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa's manifesto says Tamil Tiger rebels who are imprisoned for war-related activities would also be released after rehabilitation.

During the war, Rajapaksa was a powerful defense official under his brother and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He himself has been accused of condoning rape, extrajudicial executions and abductions, charges he denies. He is considered the top candidate in the elections scheduled for Nov. 16.

By mentioning "rehabilitation," his pledge differs from his previous promise to release all detained soldiers soon after he is elected, which was questioned as possibly bypassing legal procedures. It wasn't clear what is meant by rehabilitation and Rajapaksa and his camp have not explained it further.

Rajapaksa, speaking at the launch of his manifesto, said he will not allow "any foreign force to make any unnecessary interference in Sri Lanka."

He told the media last week that if he wins, he won't recognize an agreement the government made with the U.N. Human Rights Council to investigate alleged war crimes during the civil war.

According to conservative U.N. estimates, some 100,000 people were killed in the 26-year civil war. A later U.N. report said that some 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final months of the fighting alone.

"Even though we took steps to pardon, rehabilitate and release 13,784 Tiger members who surrendered with arms, such steps were not taken in relation to soldiers who faced different accusations related to the wartime," the manifesto said.

It says that steps will be taken to "systematically rehabilitate and reintegrate" into the society as free citizens not only the soldiers but also members of the Tamil Tigers who are facing different accusations related to the war.

Sri Lanka's government ordered Tamil rebels and any civilian with remote relationship to the rebel group to surrender after they were boxed inside a narrow strip of land in the final days of the war in 2009. The government released the official number of 13,784 people who surrendered but families say they saw busloads of their relatives taken away by soldiers never to be seen again. A protest demanding information on their missing relatives has continued for years.

Rajapaksa's manifesto does not talk about the missing but speaking to reporters earlier this month, he said that no person had disappeared other than those who participated in active combat, and that included thousands of soldiers. Even though there are different allegations, he said people must forget the past and move on.

Rajapaksa is a hero to many Sri Lankans — especially ethnic majority Sinhalese — for his crucial role in ending the war. His popularity has been on the rise after the Easter suicide attacks by Muslim militants that killed 269 people and wounded 400 others.

On Friday, he reiterated that strengthening national security would be a prime responsibility of his government and vowed to "rebuild the state security mechanism to make Sri Lanka a safer country which would be free from terrorism, underworld acts, drug menace and violence."