Mahinda Rajapaksa woos Lankan Tamils ahead of polls in the north Colombo

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Srilanka: In a bid to woo Lankan Tamils, President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday toured the former LTTE strongholds in the country's north ahead of the planned election in the region.
"For 30 years you saw the war, now you have seen 4 years of development", Rajapaksa said in Kilinochchi, the former LTTE administrative capital.
Addressing a gathering in Tamil, Rajapaksa heralded many government development projects in the post-conflict phase. "We have given you development never seen before," he said.
He urged Lankan Tamils to recognise the alleged negative impact caused by the Tamil diaspora. Rajapaksa's visit comes ahead of an expected official declaration from him later this month on his pledged northern provincial council election in September.
Rajapaksa opened a 153 km-long section of a highway linking the capital Colombo and the north. This section of the A9 highway suffered from the LTTE campaign and remained inaccessible for public transport throughout the conflict.
He also opened a domestic air strip at Iranamadu, located on a former LTTE airstrip. Sri Lanka airforce spokesman Andy Wijesuriya said the Iranamadu airport would provide a boost to tourism in the north.
The President also laid the foundation to build homes in the Nanthikandal where the final battle between the LTTE and government troops took place.