Rajapaksa kicks-off election campaign in Tamil dominated north Sri Lanka

Kicking-off his presidential campaign in war-ravaged northern Sri Lanka, where opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka enjoys an edge, president Mahinda Rajapaksa today assured the predominantly Tamils there, that they could now live in peace, as the LTTE was a thing of past.

The people of Jaffna accorded a rousing welcome to Rajapaksa, when the incumbent president made his first visit to the region after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, an official statement said.

Rajapaksa, who is seeking a second term and pitted against the common opposition candidate Fonseka in the January 26 polls, told the people of Vavuniya and Mannar during his visit that they had suffered enough for the last three decades, and there would be no repeat of such violent incidents, as the LTTE war  was a thing of the past, and would never happen again, the Sunday Times reported.

The president, during his rally organised at the Mannar Urban Council Grounds in Northwestern Sri Lanka, said, development which had virtually come to a halt in the last 30 years in the region had now begun in right earnest.

In a major boost to the presidential campaign of former army general Fonseka, the dominant Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on January 6 had announced support in favour of him.

TNA, once considered close to LTTE, announced support in favour of the former army chief, saying he understood the need for an acceptable solution on the Tamil issue better than president Mahinda Rajapaksa.