Sri Lankan president dissolves parliament, calls elections

Last Updated: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:34:00 +1100

Sri Lanka's recently re-elected President Mahinda Rajapaksa is dissolving parliament and calling early elections.

A senior government official says legislative elections will be held in on April the 8th.

Mr Rajapaksa won a second term in office by a large margin last month, but the outcome was rejected by his main rival, General Sarath Fonseka.

He was detained by security forces on Monday.

Opposition politicians say the government is engaged in a witch-hunt and have called for protests later on Wednesday against the arrest.

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