Government-backed ex-rebels win east Sri Lanka poll

BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Government-backed formerTamil Tiger rebels accused of abductions and killings have wona landslide in a Sri Lankan local election that critics say wasmarred by the threat of violence, officials said on Tuesday.

The TMVP, made up of fighters who defected from themainstream Tigers in 2004 and helped the government evict theirformer comrades from the east of the island, polled first inall nine local contests in Monday's vote.

"TMVP captured all the local authorities," BatticaloaAssistant Election Commissioner ThuraisingamKrishnananthalingam told Reuters after an all-night vote count."Out of the total cast, they have got more than 70 percent ofthe vote."

The local elections are seen as a dry run for a widerprovincial vote in the north and east -- the government'sblueprint for devolution in minority Tamil areas it hopes willgo hand-in-hand with its push to crush the Tigers militarily.

The government, itself increasingly isolated over its humanrights record as a 25-year civil war escalates, gave the armedfaction free rein in the eastern Batticaloa district for monthsas the military battled the rebels.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's administration has longrefused to disarm the TMVP, arguing it could not find anyonecarrying guns to disarm -- despite the fact residents and aidworkers could until a few months ago.

Election commissioner Krishnananthalingam said overallvoter turnout was more than 60 percent.

The main opposition UNP and the Tiger-backed TNA boycottedthe election for control of eight local government bodies andBatticaloa municipal council, but were perceived to have noreal power base in the area.

Rights groups and diplomats have questioned thegovernment's decision to endorse the TMVP, which is alsoaccused of child soldier recruitment.

Pradeep Master, the group's Batticaloa political wingleader, is a former Tiger who joined the rebels as a childsoldier. He is tipped as Batticaloa's next mayor.

A host of other former militant groups who joined thedemocratic mainstream in the 1980s also took part in the poll,as well as the island's main Muslim party.

"In Batticaloa, not only TMVP, many other armed groups arealso there. Some of the Muslims also have arms," said KingsleyRodrigo, chairman of the People's Alliance for Free and FairElections, the island's main election monitoring body.

"They have been keeping the arms with them. So I am notgoing to say this election is a free and fair one."

Ordinary Tamils repeatedly displaced by a war that haskilled an estimated 70,000 people since 1983 -- some displacedyet again by the 2004 tsunami -- long for lasting peace. Butmany are anxious about what the future will bring under the

TMVP.

The group's Tiger heritage is never far away. Like themainstream rebels, its emblem is a roaring golden Tiger baringits claws against a red background. The party has replaced theTigers' crossed rifles with a pair of shaking hands.

(Editing by Alex Richardson)