Polling closes in Sri Lanka presidential election

Voting in Sri Lanka's presidential elections ended after nine hours Thursday amid sporadic violence and a virtual boycott by minority Tamils, officials said.

Voting in Sri Lanka's presidential elections ended after nine hours Thursday amid sporadic violence and a virtual boycott by minority Tamils, officials said. Election officials said voter turnout was extremely low in the island's volative northern and eastern regions where two people were killed and 17 wounded in separate incidents during the voting period.

However, in the rest of the country the turnout was high and there were no reports of major violence, an election official said. - AFP