Sri Lanka's new leader set to meet with rebels
By Matthew Rosenberg, Associated Press
POSTED: 11/18/05, 9:00 PM PST | # COMMENTS
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - President-elect Mahinda Rajapakse vowed Friday to use his narrow victory at the polls to revive stalled peace talks by meeting the secretive leader of the rebel Tamil Tigers, whose boycott of the vote ensured his triumph.
Throughout the campaign, Rajapakse took a hard line on the rebels, and even Friday's pledge came alongside promises to review a fragile cease-fire and never give in to guerrilla demands for an autonomous homeland for minority Tamils.
"We must have law and order in a single country," said Rajapakse, Sri Lanka's current prime minister, who defeated dovish opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe in Thursday's close balloting.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Rajapakse said he wanted to hold talks with Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
It is a pledge that Rajapakse made throughout the campaign, but one that may be easier said than done - Prabhakaran rarely sees anyone outside a tight inner circle and makes only a single public appearance a year on Heroes' Day, a Tiger holiday honoring guerillas killed in the civil war.
Still, when asked about his plans, Rajapakse told the AP: "I am ready to talk to the (Tigers), and I am ready to meet Prabhakaran."
The election between Rajapakse and Wickremesinghe, who favored concessions to the rebels, was seen as a referendum on how to revive Sri Lanka's stalled peace process and rebuild an economy devastated by last year's tsunami.
Each promised peace but staked out opposite sides of Sri Lanka's political spectrum. The result was anything but decisive.
Rajapakse received 4.88 million votes, or 50.29 percent of the total 9.7 million valid votes cast. Wickremesinghe received 4.70 million, or 48.38 percent. The rest of the votes went to 11 other candidates.
Rajapakse pledged to "bring about an honorable peace to the country respecting all communities."
Wickremesinghe said the result would produce "a lot of question marks and uncertainty" and called it "a setback for the peace process as you have a very polarized society."
The deep divisions among Sri Lankans were clear from voting patterns.
Balloting went smoothly in southern and western parts of the country, and much of the Buddhist Sinhalese majority that dominates Sri Lanka turned out for Rajapakse.
Wickremesinghe's softer line on the rebels won him wide support among Tamils, a largely Hindu minority whose plight is at the heart of a civil war that has lasted more than two decades and killed nearly 65,000 people.
Tamils make up just under 20 percent of Sri Lanka's 19 million people and were seen as kingmakers for Wickremesinghe.
But in the north and east - Tiger territory - grenade attacks, roadblocks of burning tires and intimidation kept most of the 200,000 Tamils living in rebel areas from voting
By Matthew Rosenberg, Associated Press
POSTED: 11/18/05, 9:00 PM PST | # COMMENTS
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - President-elect Mahinda Rajapakse vowed Friday to use his narrow victory at the polls to revive stalled peace talks by meeting the secretive leader of the rebel Tamil Tigers, whose boycott of the vote ensured his triumph.
Throughout the campaign, Rajapakse took a hard line on the rebels, and even Friday's pledge came alongside promises to review a fragile cease-fire and never give in to guerrilla demands for an autonomous homeland for minority Tamils.
"We must have law and order in a single country," said Rajapakse, Sri Lanka's current prime minister, who defeated dovish opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe in Thursday's close balloting.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Rajapakse said he wanted to hold talks with Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
It is a pledge that Rajapakse made throughout the campaign, but one that may be easier said than done - Prabhakaran rarely sees anyone outside a tight inner circle and makes only a single public appearance a year on Heroes' Day, a Tiger holiday honoring guerillas killed in the civil war.
Still, when asked about his plans, Rajapakse told the AP: "I am ready to talk to the (Tigers), and I am ready to meet Prabhakaran."
The election between Rajapakse and Wickremesinghe, who favored concessions to the rebels, was seen as a referendum on how to revive Sri Lanka's stalled peace process and rebuild an economy devastated by last year's tsunami.
Each promised peace but staked out opposite sides of Sri Lanka's political spectrum. The result was anything but decisive.
Rajapakse received 4.88 million votes, or 50.29 percent of the total 9.7 million valid votes cast. Wickremesinghe received 4.70 million, or 48.38 percent. The rest of the votes went to 11 other candidates.
Rajapakse pledged to "bring about an honorable peace to the country respecting all communities."
Wickremesinghe said the result would produce "a lot of question marks and uncertainty" and called it "a setback for the peace process as you have a very polarized society."
The deep divisions among Sri Lankans were clear from voting patterns.
Balloting went smoothly in southern and western parts of the country, and much of the Buddhist Sinhalese majority that dominates Sri Lanka turned out for Rajapakse.
Wickremesinghe's softer line on the rebels won him wide support among Tamils, a largely Hindu minority whose plight is at the heart of a civil war that has lasted more than two decades and killed nearly 65,000 people.
Tamils make up just under 20 percent of Sri Lanka's 19 million people and were seen as kingmakers for Wickremesinghe.
But in the north and east - Tiger territory - grenade attacks, roadblocks of burning tires and intimidation kept most of the 200,000 Tamils living in rebel areas from voting
