Sri Lanka opposition to strike after leader held

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI, Associated Press Writer Bharatha Mallawarachi, Associated Press Writer – 23 mins ago

The threat follows Monday‘s dramatic arrest of former army chief Gen. Sarath Fonseka, the opposition‘s leading figure, who last year led government troops in their crushing defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels. Some analysts said the arrest, which comes ahead of parliamentary elections, appears to have been aimed at preventing Fonseka from participating as planned.

The government has accused Fonseka of trying to topple the government and kill the president. Fonseka has denied this charges.

More than 7,000 civilians were killed in the final months of the fighting that crushed the rebels last spring. Human rights groups have accused the military, which was led by Fonseka at the time, of shelling hospitals and heavily populated civilian areas during the fighting, and the rebels of holding the local population as human shields.

Fonseka left the army and led the opposition‘s attempts to unseat the president in an election last month. Rajapaksa won the election by 17 percentage points, according to official results.

"It seems the government is preparing for the next parliamentary election," he said at a gathering of opposition leaders, where they also announced a countrywide protest, starting Wednesday.

"He was dragged like an animal," Anoma said. "Is this what he gets for ending a 30-year war?"

Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Prasad Samarasinghe denied that Fonseka is cut off from family or friends.

The arrest comes ahead of the country‘s general election, which Fonseka planned to contest. Rajapaksa‘s government wants to secure a two-third majority in the country‘s parliament, giving them the absolute majority and entrenching their grip on power.

Since the Jan. 26 election, Fonseka has complained that the government was attempting to arrest him on trumped up charges. Even as returns came in, troops surrounded the hotel where he was staying, in a massive show of force. Last week, security forces raided his office and arrested at least 15 of his staff. A number of serving military officers, which the government said were considered to be a threat to national security, have been fired.

The opposition has rejected the results of the presidential election, accusing the government of stealing more than 1 million of Fonseka‘s votes during the tallying process, and said it will challenge them in court.

It has also accused the government of a campaign of threats, intimidation and illegal imprisonment of its supporters and activists.

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Associated Press reporter Fisnik Abrashi contributed to this report.



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