COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Feb 9, (Agencies): Sri Lanka’s defeated presidential candidate has been arrested and will be court-martialed for allegedly planning to overthrow the government while serving as the head of the army. Sarath Fonseka, who as the top general helped defeat the Tamil Tiger rebels, was hauled away from his office by military police on Monday after objecting to his arrest, opposition politician Rauff Hakeem told The Associated Press. Fonseka and President Mahinda Rajapaksa were once strong allies and partners in ending the country’s 25-year civil war last May. But they subsequently fell out, and Fonseka quit his post. They contested a bitter election last month for the presidency that Rajapaksa won by 17 percentage points, according to official results.

Even as those votes were counted on Jan 26, hundreds of government troops surrounded a Colombo hotel where Fonseka and other opposition leaders had gathered to await the results. He was later allowed to leave the building, but the show of force foreshadowed Monday’s arrest.
Officials have repeatedly accused Fonseka of plotting to kill Rajapaksa and overthrow the government with the help of army deserters and former military officers since the election. Fonseka has called the allegations fabricated and vowed to push on with his political career. A number of serving officers, which the government said were considered to be a threat to national security, have been fired.
Government minister Keheliya Rambukwella says Fonseka will be tried in a military court on charges of conspiring against the president and planning a coup while army chief.

Sri Lanka’s president dissolved the parliament Tuesday, setting the stage for new elections on April 8, a day after authorities arrested the leader of the opposition — a move analysts said was meant to prevent him from contesting the vote.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s decision follows his sweeping victory at the polls last month over his former army chief Gen. Sarath Fonseka who had defected to the opposition.
The new parliamentary poll will choose the country’s next 225 lawmakers, said a senior government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government policy. No date has been set.
If the presidential poll is anything to go by, the contest will be another bitter race between the government and the opposition. Rajapaksa’s party is hoping to secure a two-third majority in the country’s parliament, giving them the absolute majority and entrenching their grip on power.