REFUGEE

Sri Lanka has accepted the retirement of a top general who oversaw the defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels after 25 years of war, an official said on Friday, leaving him free to run for president.

General Sarath Fonseka, the Chief of Defence Staff, is expected to challenge his commander in chief, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in an election which may be held by April.

If he enters the race, he is expected to weaken Rajapaksa's core voter base and erode the incumbent's monopoly on claiming political capital from ending the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam..

"General Fonseka had been granted permission to retire with immediate effect by the president," Anusha Palpita, the head of the government's information department, told Reuters.

Fonseka said on Thursday he had served his country in the past and would continue to do so.

When asked whether he planned to run for president, he said: "I can't comment as I am still in uniform. I will decide my future once my retirement comes into effect at the end of this month. I have the same basic right as anybody else."