[AFP]

Sri Lanka’s main minority Tamil political group on Friday accused army troops of assaulting its lawmakers and breaking up a party meeting on the northern peninsula of Jaffna.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said troops stormed their venue on Thursday evening and attacked members of parliament and party supporters who were discussing local elections next month.

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[AP]

Residents in Sri Lanka’s tense eastern city of Batticaloa and surrounding towns go to the polls Monday in a vote the government says is key to restoring order in the area, which troops recaptured months ago following more than a decade of rule by the Tamil Tiger rebels.

But human rights groups say the government is irresponsibly rushing ahead with the city and village council elections to show that its rule has brought democracy to the long-troubled east. They fear that violence and intimidation will taint the results.

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[BBC]

The United States does not believe that free & fair elections can be held in Batticaloa if one party is allowed to bear arms says the US Ambassador for Sri Lanka, Robert O Blake. If one party is allowed arms and threaten and intimidate other parties and other contestants free and fair elections can not be held, said the US Ambassador addressing a public function held in Batticaloa on Wednesday. The US Ambassador said,” Unchecked illegal paramilitary activity also discourages the prime investment that is badly needed to help the reconstruction process in the east”.

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