Sri Lankan gov't condemns attack on political activist

The Sri Lankan government on Friday condemned the grenade attack on the residence of a political activist from the opposition on the eve of the presidential election.

The Colombo house of Tiran Alles, a senior member from the opposition coalition which is campaigning for the presidency of former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, came under a grenade attack early Friday morning.

"The government of Sri Lanka is gravely concerned at this wanton act of violence, which appears to have been carried out to disrupt and discredit the upcoming presidential elections," said the presidential secretariat in a statement.

The statement said the government is "wholly committed to ensuring a free, peaceful and democratic election in every part of our country. These isolated incidents will not be allowed to affect this goal."

Fonseka will challenge the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the presidential election to be held on Jan. 26.

Over 14 million registered voters in Sri Lanka will be casting their votes at over 11,000 polling booths to select the sixth president.

According to local polls monitors, nearly 800 election-related incidents of violence including five deaths had been reported since the election was declared late November.

Source: Xinhua