War-weary Sri Lankans go to the polls

Sri Lankans crowded voting stations throughout Colombo today in a hard-fought election to decide whether the incumbent president or his former army chief should lead the nation’s recovery from a brutal civil war.

However there was less enthusiasm for the poll in minority Tamil areas most affected by the fighting, and early morning explosions in the city of Jaffna - in the heart of the predominantly Tamil north – were expected to further suppress turnout.