Sri Lanka parliament dissolved

Sri Lanka's president has dissolved parliament before legislative elections on April 8, a senior government official said on Tuesday, a day after a leading opposition figure was arrested on military offences.

The legislative poll will follow last month's presidential election, in which incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa beat former army commander General Sarath Fonseka by a landslide.

"The elections will be held on April 8 and the new parliament will convene on April 22," Chandrapala Liyanage, a media officer at the president's office told Reuters.

Parliament completes its six-year term on April 22.

After losing the presidential poll, Fonseka accused his former commander-in-chief of vote-rigging, vowing to challenge the results in court and stand for parliament.

Troops arrested Fonseka, who quit the army in November to enter the presidential race, and the government said he would be court-martialled on charges of conspiring against the president.

Under Sri Lankan military law, the armed forces can arrest and try personnel who have left service for up to six months after their departure, defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told a news conference.

"Still investigations are going on and information is emerging from the investigations," he said.

TAMIL TIGERS' DEFEAT

Sri Lanka's Government Information Department on Tuesday said Fonseka's comments to reporters, quoted by the BBC, that he would testify in a war crimes probe proved his disloyalty to the troops he led to defeat the Tamil Tiger rebels and end a 25-year war.

"This report of BBC confirms beyond doubt that the retired general was hell-bent on betraying the gallant armed forces of Sri Lanka who saved the nation from the most ruthless terrorist group in the world," the statement said.

Opposition politicians who backed Fonseka's election bid condemned his arrest, and vowed to seek legal redress.

"To all of us it is evident that this is a government which is not simply dictatorial but fascist and they are all out to humiliate him, harass him and go on a journey of vendetta," Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem told reporters.

The general had stood side-by-side with Rajapaksa in May after the defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels, but fell out later over what he said were false accusations of planning a coup.

He also complained a promotion had sidelined him by stripping his powers.

He then became the common candidate of several weakened opposition parties with divergent ideologies, who united solely for the purpose of beating Rajapaksa. Some of the parties had earlier criticised him sharply for his conduct of the war.

The campaign turned bitter and personal, with Fonseka and Rajapaksa trading allegations of corruption and misconduct.

- Reuters