Tamil Tiger rebels fire shells as Sri Lanka votes

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) kept uppressure on the government by aiming shells towards the Palaly airbase in the northern Jaffna peninsula, a day after their vicious attack on the Army was beaten back, military officials said.

Opposition parties claimed there were incidents of voterigging and intimidation in some areas, where according to them polling booths were taken over by government supporters.

Adding a tinge of sorrow to the election was news that84-year-old Sirimavo Bandaranaike, a former Sri Lanka Prime minister and also Kumaratunga’s mother, had died while on her way back to Colombo after casting her vote in her home district.

Nearly 10,000 polling stations across much of the countryopened at 7 a.M. (0100 GMT) and will close at 4 P.M. First results are expected late on Tuesday,

Streets in the capital Colombo were mostly deserted asgovernment offices were closed and many in the private sector stayed home.

Some 12 million people — 63 percent of the population –will choose from among a record 128 political parties and independent groups fielding 5,038 candidates for the 225-member parliament.

There is no polling in parts of the country’s North andEast controlled by the LTTE, who have been fighting the government since 1983 for an independent Tamil homeland.

Some 40,000 police and paramilitary personnel are guardingpolling booths on fears the LTTE would attempt to disrupt voting by targeting top political leaders.

Main Opposition parties and ministers had warned ofviolence during the vote after a bloody campaign which Left some 61 people dead in LTTE suicide bombings and inter-party clashes.

A close contest is expected between Kumaratunga’s rulingPeople’s Alliance (PA) and the main Opposition United National Party (UNP) led by Ranil Wickremesinghe in the election.

Voting mostly trouble-free in North and East

Elsewhere in the eastern Trincomalee town and the northernVavuniya town, which borders the Wanni region mostly under LTTE control, voting was said to be trouble-free.

While it was brisk in Trincomalee, the response was poor inVavuniya. Military officials told Reuters the road connecting LTTE-held areas and Vavuniya was open for people there to come and vote, but could not immediately say how many had crossed over to cast their ballot.

In war-torn Jaffna more voting was reported.

"Security forces defused a time bomb at the main bus standopposite the Jaffna Central College minutes before it was due to explode, but voting is going on," military spokesman Brigadier Sanath Karunaratne told Reuters from Colombo.

Kumaratunga cast her vote early in her home district ofGampaha near Colombo amid tight security, government officials said. During last year’s presidential elections she voted at home after being wounded in an assassination attempt.

"We have received reports of violence and intimidation incertain areas of the country. It’s too early to give a judgement, but taking into account the reports we have got it is not a free and fair election," said Vimal Weerawansa, propaganda secretary of the leftist People’s Liberation Front.

Main Opposition upbeat

"UNP is going to win. People want a change," party leaderWickremesinghe told Reuters after voting in Colombo. He said early reports indicated there was little violence, but added his party was closely monitoring the situation.

Anura Bandaranaike, Kumaratunga’s brother and a senior UNPleader, said: "We will emerge as a single largest party…we’ll have the definite edge in forming the next government"

Senior government ministers were not immediately availablefor comment.

For the PA, ways to attain peace was the main issue duringcampaign while the UNP focused on the state of the economy hit by the rising cost of the war against the LTTE.

Sri Lanka’s Defence budget shot up by more than 40 percentto $1 billion this year as the government beefed up the military to battle the LTTE in the northern Jaffna peninsula, pushing up the cost of living due to new taxes.