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President Mahinda Rajapaksa has won Sri Lanka's first election since Tamil Tiger rebels were defeated after 25 years of civil war, state TV reports.




Although the final results are yet to be declared, Mr Rajapaksa appears to have won more than half the votes cast.



About 100 armed troops have surrounded the Colombo hotel where his election rival, Gen Sarath Fonseka, is staying.



A government spokesman told the BBC they did not intend to hold Gen Fonseka but were looking for army deserters.



The BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan, who is in the same central Colombo hotel as Gen Fonseka and other opposition leaders, says the troops' presence has created a very tense atmosphere.



A military spokesman said their deployment was a "protective measure".



AT THE SCENE



Anbarasan Ethirajan, BBC News, Colombo

I'm now inside the hotel where the main opposition candidate and other opposition leaders are staying. It is surrounded by heavily armed troops and commandos.

There is a tense atmosphere. One of the opposition alliance leaders said it was intimidating and that the alliance has appealed to the government to withdraw the troops.



The opposition leader said he was willing to accept the result of the election as legitimate as they had not seen any large-scale malpractices or rigging on election day.



The military had earlier said they were looking for about 400 army deserters and ex-soldiers staying in the hotel and that they should surrender immediately.



Udaya Nanayakkara said that some 400 people had gathered inside the Cinnamon Lake Hotel in the capital.



"We don't know what is their motive and, as a protective measure, we have deployed troops around the hotel, and people who go in and come out are being checked," he said.



Gen Fonseka said he feared the troops planned to arrest him if he won the election, a claim denied by officials.



His spokesman, Rauf Hakeem, said the opposition had appealed to the government over what he said were "high-handed tactics" intended to intimidate the opposition.



He told reporters there were no deserters inside the hotel.



With nearly all the results in, Mr Rajapaksa had 5.9 million votes - or 58% of the total - to 3.39 million for his rival, state TV reported.



Some 70% of Sri Lanka's 14 million-strong electorate turned out to vote.



Lucien Rajakarunanayake, a spokesman for Mr Rajapaksa, told the Associated Press news agency that the president had "won a historic and resounding victory in the first free and fair elections held throughout the country since the defeat of terrorism".





Supporters of Mr Rajapaksa celebrated after TV reports of his victory

Supporters of Mr Rajapaksa celebrated in the streets of Colombo, waving Sri Lankan flags and setting off fireworks.



Under Sri Lanka's electoral rules, if no candidate wins 50% of ballots cast in the first count, then voters' second - or even third - preferences are tallied to determine the winner.



The BBC's Charles Haviland, in Colombo, says it is probably only a matter of time before Gen Fonseka's team concedes, but the opposition may raise certain objections as to how the election campaign was conducted.



Independent observers have been perturbed by two main elements, our correspondent says, one of which is the amount of violence in the run-up to the election - with most complaints about the perpetration of violence laid at the door of the president's side.



The other is what monitors say is the misuse of public resources and state media.



State TV in particular gave blanket coverage to Mr Rajapaksa, our correspondent says, with Gen Fonseka more or less a footnote, and public buses were used to ferry around the incumbent's campaign material.



The government has said it paid for the use of buses and other state resources but the independent election monitoring bodies are not convinced, our correspondent says.



Bitter fight



After a violent and acrimonious campaign, during which four people died and hundreds were wounded, Tuesday's election was largely peaceful.









In pictures: Sri Lanka votes

Profile: Mahinda Rajapaksa

Profile: Gen Sarath Fonseka

But there were serious exceptions, especially in the Tamil-populated north.



In the city of Jaffna, the private Centre for Monitoring Election Violence said there were at least six explosions before and just after voting began.



Later there were two blasts in Vavuniya, the town near the huge camps for people displaced by the war. The organisation said it feared this was a systematic attempt to scare people away from voting.



There were also grenade attacks in the Sinhala-dominated centre and south where the fight between the two candidates has been especially bitter, our correspondent says.



It later turned out that Gen Fonseka had not been able to vote because his name was not on the register.



The two men were closely associated with the defeat of the Tamil Tigers last May but fell out soon afterwards. Gen Fonseka quit the military, complaining that he had been sidelined after the war.



The president's side accuses the general of courting separatists. The general has accused the president of plotting vote-rigging and violence, something his rival denies.



Both main candidates have promised voters costly subsidies and public sector pay rises.



However, economists say this will make it hard for the country to meet cost-cutting obligations imposed under the terms of a $2.6bn (£1.6bn) International Monetary Fund loan.

Haiti's government has made the "heartbreaking" decision to declare the search and rescue phase for survivors of the earthquake over, the UN says.
The announcement came a day after two people, an 84-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man, were pulled alive from the rubble in Port-au-Prince.




The UN spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs says 132 people have been rescued since the earthquake 11 days agoOn Friday the official government death toll from the quake rose to 110,000.


Speaking in Geneva, Ms Byrs said that the decision to end the rescue operation was "heartbreaking" but that it had been taken on the advice of experts.


She said most search and rescue teams would now be leaving Haiti, although some with heavy lifting equipment may stay to help with the clean-up operation and with aid distribution.



She added that humanitarian relief efforts were still being scaled up in Port-au-Prince, as well as in the towns of Jacmel, Leogane and other areas affected by the earthquake.



Although two people were pulled out alive on Friday, it is believed rescue teams have detected no new signs of life under the rubble for the last three days, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva.



AdvertisementRescued after 10 days in rubble

On Friday an 84-year-old woman was found in the wreckage of her home seriously injured and severely dehydrated.


She is being treated by doctors at the main city hospital with intravenous fluids and drugs.


Her son said he had heard her cries on Thursday morning and, almost a day later, he dug her out with the help of friends.


Meanwhile, a 21-year-old man, Emmannuel Buso, was pulled out alive by an Israeli search team and is said to be in a stable condition.


Speaking from his hospital bed he described coming out of the shower when the earthquake hit.


BBC HAITIAN CREOLE SERVICE

Broadcasting on the radio daily at 0910 local time (1410 GMT)

Twenty-minute programme in Haitian Creole

Broadcasting in Haiti's six largest cities on FM

Also available on satellite and online, and via social media



BBC Caribbean

He said he had no food, and drank his own urine to keep thirst at bay.



The head of the Israeli team, Major Amir Ben David, said the rescue had given hope more people could be found alive.



No decision has yet been taken on whether the Israeli team will now go home, AP reported.



Meanwhile, the BBC has started a new radio service in Haitian Creole, one of the country's main languages.



The 20-minute long daily broadcast, called Connexion Haiti, will try to give people up-to-date information about the basic services they need to survive - such as where to find food, clean drinking water, medical assistance and shelter.



'Most complex operation'



An estimated 1.5 million people were left homeless by the 7.0-magnitude quake, which some have estimated has killed as many as 200,000 people.



HAITI'S REMARKABLE SURVIVORS



Emmannuel Buso, 21 - rescued after 10 days

Marie Carida, 84 - saved after 10 days

Mendji Bahina Sanon, 11 - trapped for eight days

Lozama Hotteline, 25 - pulled out after seven days

Elisabeth Joassaint, 15 days - buried for seven days, half her life

Ena Zizi, 69 - rescued after seven days





Haiti quake: Survivors' stories

At least 75,000 bodies have so far been buried in mass graves, Haiti's government has said. Many more remain uncollected in the streets.



The UN says 130,000 people have now been relocated out of Port-au-Prince, easing the pressure on overcrowded camps in the city.



Meanwhile the UN agency the World Food Programme says it has increased its food aid to survivors.



Speaking after a two-day evaluation mission to Port-au-Prince, the executive director of WFP, Josette Sheeran, said that on Friday the agency had delivered about 2 million meals.



"This is the most complex operation WFP has ever launched," she said.



"Haiti's entire supply chain infrastructure has been devastated, and we have been faced with launching an operation from scratch."



A benefit concert featuring more than 100 music and Hollywood stars has been broadcast around the world to raise money for the victims of the earthquake.

Sri Lankan government had rejected the petitions submitted by the Investigation committee in regard to the Dublin war crime activities. The Investigation Commissioner had obtained permission to conduct investigation in Sri Lanka in regard to Dublin war crime activities.


But the Sri Lanka government has point blankly rejected that it cannot accept this request. The Sri Lankan government points out that this is a fake government and diplomats from the non government organizations of some countries have conducted unreasonable investigations. The “Diwayina” newspaper has published a news item that about 10 million sterling pounds are being exhausted towards these investigations

An affidavit containing the personal testimony of Dr Manoharan, the father of Ragihar, one of the five high school students shot dead in execution style in Trincomalee beach nearly four years ago by members of Sri Lanka security forces, and two detailed reports of evidence collected on the killings by a Rights Group whose members are in self-exile due to threat to their lives, were submitted as record of evidence to the Dublin war-crimes tribunal hearing concluded on the 16th of this month, US-based pressure group Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) said Tuesday.






TAG Report: Trincomalee executions

Dr Manoharan and the surviving members of the family were relocated to UK with the assistance of a UN organization after the killings to escape intimidation by the Sri Lanka security forces against Dr Manoharan legally pursuing the killers of his son.







Student victims of Trincomalee executionsThe report documents the names and the date of birth of the five students killed on 2nd January 2006 in Trincomalee, a big harbor town under the control of and heavily garrisoned by the Sri Lanka security forces, as: Manoharan Ragihar 22.09.1985

•Yogarajah Hemachchandra 04.03.1985

•Logitharajah Rohan 07.04.1985

•Thangathurai Sivanantha 06.04.1985

•Shanmugarajah Gajendran 16.09.1985



Crime scene schematic (Courtesy: UTHR-Rep. 24)Dr Manoharan's affidavit details the events of 2nd January 2006 from the time Ragihar left his home at 6:00 p.m. to vist the Ganesha temple to attend the Hindu's customary festival during new year fasting, the hearing of explosion at around 7:35 p.m., Ragihar's call to his father on the cell phone informing him that soldiers were around him, desperate and failed attempts to get through the checkpoint to see if his son was there near the Gandhi statue, to the time he identified Ragihar's body in the hospital.







Culpability chartThe affidavit further describes the interaction with the security forces and the attempt by Minister of Human Rights Mr Samarasinghe in April of 2006 offering Dr Manoharan family a "nice house in Colombo," "a nice school" for his children, encouraging him to "move on after the incident."



The report identifies Superintendent of Police, Kapila Jayasekere, naval officer Udawatte Weerakody, "leader of the killer team" Vas Perera, DIG Abeywardena, and DIG and JHU member HMGB Kotakadeniya as culpable individuals for the crime among other higher level officials, military and political, who bear command responsibility established by the Hague Conventions IV (1907) and X (1907) for war crimes.



Two complete investigative reports, published on 19th April 2007 and 2nd January 2010 produced by UTHR, a Rights Group in Sri Lanka whose members are in exile, were included in the submission to provide the tribunal judges a full account of information available on the alleged war-crime by Sri Lanka security forces.

The Commissioner has decided to withdraw the CA from midnight Monday, an official who did not wished to be anonymous told BBC Sandeshaya.


Political party representatives were told on Tuesday by the Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake that the officer, Jayampathy Hettiarachchi, has failed to properly carry out his duties, Daily Mirror reported.



More details to follow.

We are very pleased to announce, on the Tamil festive day of the first Thai Pongal of the new decade, the release of the Report based on the Study by the Advisory Committee of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam. The report sets forth the theoretical basis for the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam and its potential role in the achievement of an independent and sovereign state of Tamil Eelam.




The report addresses many aspects of the work of the formation of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam as well as its proposed mode of operation. Among the topics covered in the report, the benefits of direct elections and the advantage of having elected representatives draft a constitution; the welfare of former LTTE combatants and their families; and the prosecution of persons guilty of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide have been included.



We would like to take this opportunity to also announce the launching of the official website of the TGTE. We encourage all who are interested to visit www.govtamileelam.org.



At this juncture, we call upon all members of the Diaspora community interested in joining in the task of forming the Transnational Government to come forward. You can do so either by contacting members of the working group in your country or by filling out the volunteer registration from attached to the official website.



We believe that this report will further the discussion in the Tamil community about the formation of the Transnational Government, a vital part of the whole process in our view. The report is open for public comment for the next three weeks. We encourage all interested persons to participate in discussions being organized by the respective Country Working Groups in the coming weeks. You are also welcome to send comments and feedback via email to info@govtamileelam.org



It is our plan to issue a final report at the conclusion of the public comment period, and we seek your utmost cooperation and enthusiastic participation at the elections to be held in April 2010. It will be our chance to demonstrate to the world our intent and purposeful action.

The JVP Office which is located at second division area, Ugana main road, located at Amparai was attacked today early morning hours at 1.00 a.m, which resulted massive damaged to the office. Meanwhile the office belonging to United National party located at Maha Kandiya Post office junction at the Himuthuraawa too was attacked. Further the office in supportive of Sarath Fonseka which was located at Arakama Vzaripathansena, and posters and banners near the Kalmaduwa junction office too was destroyed.



In the meantime the clash incidents at Hinginiyagala Salgas junction and Hinginiyagala Alioluwa junction were registered. Two supporters of Sarath Fonseka who had been injured at the clash were admitted to the hospital is according to information. Reports state, such incidents have occurred, in the intention of strengthening the security arrangements in view of President’s visit to Amparai. Information states 4000 military and 2000 and more policemen are deployed to maintain security in regard to President’s visit. The attack incidents had occurred in the presence of defense sector was according to sources. All the four incidents had occurred at the four main entrances, entering to Amparai District is according to observers.




.

Jakarta will use any means necessary to end a standoff between authorities and a boat of Tamil refugees senior officials revealed on Wednesday, two days after authorities allowed Sri Lankan official’s access to several refugees being detained in an Indonesian detention centre.




Senior immigration official Harry Puwanto said he believed ex LTTE cadres on maybe on board the “Jeya Lestari” and hiding amongst 250 refugees who have refused to leave the ship until Australia grants them asylum, three months since the vessel was intercepted by the Indonesian Navy upon request of Australia.



"Many of them want to get off, but a small number of militants don't want to, and many of the others are frightened because this small group are Tamil Tigers, according to military intelligence," Mr Purwanto alleged.



"This is our nation, so why can't we (use force) in the name of our sovereignty? “ Purwanto said, blaming Australia for the stalemate after it refused to grant asylum to those on board.



The developments appear to confirm fears held by human rights groups over the possibility of violence being used against the asylum seekers, compounded last month when Indonesian navy boats attempted to storm the ship according to media reports.



Calls for international intervention over Jakarta’s handling of the situation intensified earlier this week after reports alleged that Sri Lankan officials were granted access to a group of refugees, where they were threatened with deportation to the Boosa Prison in Sri Lanka.

In the space of a minute, Haiti's worst quake in two centuries wrecked the HQ of the UN mission, the presidential palace and numerous other buildings.



A "large number" of UN personnel were reported missing by the organisation.



The capital is now said to be in total darkness with many people sleeping outside amid fear of more aftershocks.



Describing the earthquake as a "catastrophe", Haiti's envoy to the US said the cost of the damage could run into billions.



A number of nations, including the US, UK and Venezuela, are gearing up to send aid.





The quake, which struck about 15km (10 miles) south-west of Port-au-Prince, was quickly followed by two strong aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.5 magnitude.



The tremor hit at 1653 (2153 GMT), the US Geological Survey said. Phone lines to the country failed shortly afterwards.



Aid workers and reporters at the scene estimated the number of dead to be in the hundreds or even thousands.





I think hundreds of casualties would be a serious understatement



Rachmani Domersant, operations manager, Food for the Poor





In pictures: Haitian earthquake

As night fell, Rachmani Domersant, an operations manager with the Food for the Poor charity, told Reuters: "The whole city is in darkness. You have thousands of people sitting in the streets with nowhere to go. There are people running, crying, screaming."



Adding that he had seen no rescue vehicles in the hillside suburb of Petionville, he said: "People are trying to dig victims out with flashlights. I think hundreds of casualties would be a serious understatement."



A French official told AFP news agency about 200 people were missing in the collapsed Hotel Montana, which is popular with tourists.



There have also been some reports of looting overnight.



Earlier, bodies white with dust could be seen piled on the back of a pick-up truck as vehicles tried to ferry the injured to hospital.



Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and has suffered a number of recent disasters, including four hurricanes and storms in 2008 that killed hundreds.



'Three million affected'



In a statement issued in New York, the UN said that its local HQ in Haiti had "sustained serious damage along with other UN installations" and "a large number" of personnel were missing.





EYEWITNESS

Carel Pedre, TV and radio presenter, Port-au-Prince

I saw a lot of people crying for help, a lot of buildings collapsed, a lot of car damage, a lot of people without help, people bleeding.

I saw a movie theatre, a supermarket, a cybercafe, an apartment building which collapsed.



Now it's dark outside, there is no electricity, all the phone networks are down, so there's no way that people can get in touch with their family and friends.



There are aftershocks every 15 to 20 minutes. They last from three to five seconds. The first shock was really strong, people were falling in the streets and buildings collapsed.



I didn't see any emergency services, the people at the neighbourhood were trying to help each other.



The streets are narrow and there is lot of traffic and everyone is trying to reach family and friends. Traffic now is really difficult. People don't know where to go or where to start.

Eyewitness: 'Blood all over them'



UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said it was unclear how many people had been inside the building.



The head of the UN mission in Haiti, Hedi Annabi, was reported to have been in the building and is unaccounted for.



The UN's stabilisation mission plays a vital role in ensuring security in Haiti.



Raymond Joseph, Haiti's ambassador to the US, said the presidential palace, the tax office, the ministry of commerce and the foreign ministry had all been damaged, but the airport was intact.



He and Haiti's ambassador to Mexico, Robert Manuel, both said that President Rene Preval and his wife had survived the quake.



The World Bank, which said its local offices were destroyed but that most staff were accounted for, planned to send a team to help Haiti assess damage and plan a recovery, Reuters reported.



Mike Blanpied of the US Geological Survey said that, based on the location and size of the "shallow" quake, about three million people would have been severely shaken by its impact.



US President Barack Obama said in a statement that his "thoughts and prayers" were with the people of Haiti.





HAITI COUNTRY PROFILE



Half of Caribbean island of Hispaniola

History of violence, instability and dictatorship

Population of 10 million people

Most live on less than $2 a day

Democratic rule restored in 2006

Economy in ruins and unemployment is chronic

UN peacekeepers deployed - foreign aid seen as vital

Massive deforestation has left just 2% forest

Storms and hurricanes in 2008 left almost 800 dead

The US is preparing to send cutting equipment and a disaster response team. Venezuela says it will send a 50-strong "humanitarian assistance team".



The UK said it was mobilising help and was "ready to provide whatever humanitarian assistance may be required".



Canada, Australia, France and a number of Latin American nations have also said they are mobilising their aid response.



UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said: "My heart goes out to the people of Haiti after this devastating earthquake."



In the minutes after the quake, Henry Bahn, a visiting official from the US Department of Agriculture, said he had seen houses which had tumbled into a ravine.



"Everybody is just totally, totally freaked out and shaken," said Mr Bahn, who described the sky as "just grey with dust".



He said he had been walking to his hotel room when the ground began to shake.



"I just held on and bounced across the wall," he said. "I just heard a tremendous amount of noise and shouting and screaming in the distance."



He said rocks were strewn all over the place, and the ravine was "just full of collapsed walls and rubble and barbed wire".



BBC News website readers in the Dominican Republic, which borders Haiti on the island of Hispaniola, said they had also felt the quake.



In the immediate aftermath of the quake, a tsunami watch was put out for Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas, but this was later lifted.







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Full text of NYT op-ed follows:



Sri Lanka's Choice, and the World's Responsibility

hris PattenPity the poor Sri Lankan voter. As presidential elections loom on Jan. 26, the public is faced with a choice between two candidates who openly accuse each other of war crimes.


The current exchange of charges and counter-charges between retired Gen. Sarath Fonseka and President Mahinda Rajapaksa must be particularly confusing to those Sri Lankans who consider both to be war heroes rather than war criminals. Many from the ethnic Sinhalese majority feel that, regardless of the human costs in the last months of the long-running civil war that ended last year, both leaders deserve credit for finally finishing off the terrorist Tamil Tiger rebels.


With the Sinhalese nationalist vote thus split, the two candidates are focusing their energies on winning the votes of the country’s minority ethnic Tamils — which is surely one of the stranger political ironies of early 2010. After all, both General Fonseka and Mr. Rajapaksa executed the 30-year conflict to its bloody conclusion at the expense of huge numbers of Tamil civilian casualties.

By early May, when the war was ending, the United Nations estimated that some 7,000 civilians had died and more than 10,000 had been wounded in 2009 as the army’s noose was being drawn tight around the remaining rebels and hundreds of thousands of noncombatants, who could not escape government shelling. The final two weeks likely saw thousands more civilians killed, at the hands of both the army and the rebels.


After the war, the Tamils’ plight continued. The government interned more than a quarter million displaced Tamils, some for more than six months, in violation of both Sri Lankan and international humanitarian law. Conditions in the camps were appalling, access by international agencies was severely restricted, and independent journalists could not even visit. Barbed wire and military guards insured people could not leave or tell their stories to anyone.

By the end of 2009, most of the displaced had been moved, and the nearly 100,000 remaining in military-run camps were enjoying some freedom of movement — important steps brought about mostly as a result of international pressure and the authorities’ desire to win Tamil votes. However, a large portion of the more than 150,000 people recently sent out of the camps have not actually returned to their homes nor been resettled. They’ve been sent to and remain in “transit centers” in their home districts.

Now, put yourself in a Tamil’s shoes, and decide whom to vote for in the presidential election: Choose either the head of the government that ordered the attacks against you and your family, or the head of the army that carried it all out.

On Jan. 4, the Tamil National Alliance, the most important Tamil political party, made its choice and endorsed General Fonseka after he pledged a 10-point program of reconciliation, demilitarization and “normalization” of the largely Tamil north. There is some hope his plan might be a sign that top leaders realize that, after decades of brutal ethnic conflict, peace will only be consolidated when Sinhalese-dominated political parties make strong moves toward a more inclusive and democratic state.


What counts more than campaign promises, though, is what the winner actually does in office, and based on past performance, it is hard to imagine either candidate making the necessary constitutional reforms to end the marginalization of Tamils and other minorities — the roots of the decades-long conflict. Left unaddressed, Tamil humiliation and frustration could well lead to militancy again.

While Sri Lankan voters face a difficult decision, for the international community, the choice is clear. Whoever wins, the outside world should use all its tools to convince the government to deal properly with those underlying issues to avoid a resurgence of mass violence. In the interest of lasting peace and stability, donor governments and international institutions — India, Japan, Western donors, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank — should use their assistance to support reforms designed to protect democratic rights, tie aid to proper resettlement of the displaced, and a consultative planning process for the reconstruction of the war-ravaged, overly militarized north. U.N. agencies and nongovernment organizations should have full access to monitor the programs to ensure international money is spent properly and people receiving aid are not denied their fundamental freedoms.


In short, this means not giving Colombo any money for reconstruction and development until we know how it will be spent. And if we see funds not being used as promised, it means not being afraid to cut them off until

While there may not be much to choose between the candidates, the rift between General Fonseka and Mr. Rajapaksa — and the consequent divisions among Sinhalese nationalist parties and the renewed vigor of opposition parties — has at least put the possibility of reforms on the agenda. International leverage, correctly applied, could help expand this small window for change, leading to the democratization and demilitarization the country desperately needs to move finally beyond its horrific war and its bitter peace.