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Colombo:
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa won a resounding re-election victory on Wednesday, beating back a challenge from his former army chief, who rejected the official results and said he feared arrest as troops surrounded his hotel.
The capital remained tense, even as people hit the streets in celebration, setting off fireworks, waving Sri Lankan flags and holding up posters of a smiling Rajapaksa. Policemen at intersections smiled and waved at the revelers. (Read: Lanka presidential candidate profiles)
With nearly all ballots counted, state TV reported that Rajapaksa won 5.9 million votes, or 58 per cent, to Sarath Fonseka's 4.1 million, or 40 per cent. Turnout was about 70 per cent. The president now must rebuild the country after last year's successful offensive to destroy the Tamil Tiger separatists after 25 years of conflict.
Fonseka refused to accept the results, accusing Rajapaksa of using the state media to attack him, misappropriating public funds for his campaign and preventing displaced minority Tamils -- whose support the opposition candidate was counting on -- from voting.
In a letter to the electoral commission, he said he would initiate legal proceedings to have the results annulled. (Read: Key facts about Sri Lanka)
As the returns came in, troops surrounded the Cinnamon Lake Hotel after about 400 people, including alleged army deserters, gathered inside with Fonseka, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said.
The troops remained there throughout the day.
"We don't know what's 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," Nanayakkara told The Associated Press. He said there were no plans to arrest Fonseka.
But, in a separate letter to the election commission, Fonseka said the troops were preventing him from leaving. Three of his employees were arrested and he feared arrest himself, he said.
"I ask you to order the police and the relevant security authorities to ensure my safety and my freedom of movement," he wrote.
The capital remained tense, even as people hit the streets in celebration, setting off fireworks, waving Sri Lankan flags and holding up posters of a smiling Rajapaksa. Policemen at intersections smiled and waved at the revelers. (Read: Lanka presidential candidate profiles)
With nearly all ballots counted, state TV reported that Rajapaksa won 5.9 million votes, or 58 per cent, to Sarath Fonseka's 4.1 million, or 40 per cent. Turnout was about 70 per cent. The president now must rebuild the country after last year's successful offensive to destroy the Tamil Tiger separatists after 25 years of conflict.
Fonseka refused to accept the results, accusing Rajapaksa of using the state media to attack him, misappropriating public funds for his campaign and preventing displaced minority Tamils -- whose support the opposition candidate was counting on -- from voting.
In a letter to the electoral commission, he said he would initiate legal proceedings to have the results annulled. (Read: Key facts about Sri Lanka)
As the returns came in, troops surrounded the Cinnamon Lake Hotel after about 400 people, including alleged army deserters, gathered inside with Fonseka, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said.
The troops remained there throughout the day.
"We don't know what's 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," Nanayakkara told The Associated Press. He said there were no plans to arrest Fonseka.
But, in a separate letter to the election commission, Fonseka said the troops were preventing him from leaving. Three of his employees were arrested and he feared arrest himself, he said.
"I ask you to order the police and the relevant security authorities to ensure my safety and my freedom of movement," he wrote.
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