Friday, February 11 2005 14:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: Sri Lanka today (Feb 11, 005) extended by a month a State of emergency in tsunami-hit areas to give sweeping powers to security forces to carry out relief operations.

The emergency was imposed by President Chandrika Kumaratunga to deal with the immediate aftermath of the December 26 tsunami, which killed nearly 31,000 people and left lakhs of people homeless.

"The emergency is to deal with relief operations and is limited to coastal districts," Public Security Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake told the Parliament.

Parliament voted 106 to 20 in favour of the emergency, with minority Tamil legislators opposing the tough laws. The main Opposition abstained. The Government can extend the emergency only for a month at a time.

Government forces have been deployed to clear the rubble as well as deal with relief distributions in remote areas.