Voting ends in Sri Lanka polls

People lined up in areas of Colombo half an hour before polls opened on Tuesday [AFP] Sri Lankans have voted in the country's first presidential election since the civil war with Tamil separatists in the north was ended. Polls closed at 4pm (10:30GMT) on Tuesday amid claims of voter intimidation and sporadic acts of violence following a bitter campaign. Officials results were expected on Wednesday, with both Mahinda Rajapakse, the incumbent, and Sarath Fonseka, his former army chief, saying that expected to emerge victorous. "We will have a great victory," Rajapakse told reporters after casting his ballot in his southern home constituency of Mulkirigala. "We must be ready to face the challenges of reaching new heights after this vote," the 64-year-old, who called the election only four years into his six-year term to seize on the government's victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) last year, said. Vote prohibited Fonseka, however, suffered the embarrassment of not being able to vote, a problem he blamed on his name being omitted from the 2008 electoral register which was used for...... Visit : http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/01/2010126133311974709.html