Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa has underlined the determination of his government to extend democracy in the LTTE held areas, saying, "We will never ever permit the Wanni terrorists to dominate the people".

"No longer the Eastern masses have to be under the (rebel held) Wanni terrorists. We will never ever permit the Wanni terrorists to dominate the people in the East," President Rajapaksa said at a function here on Thursday to distribute financial assistance to the Maha Sangha (Buddhist monk) of the Eastern province.

Earlier this week, the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP), the party led by renegade LTTE leader Colonel Karuna, swept the local body polls in Sri Lanka's embattled Batticaloa district, the first electoral exercise in the eastern area in 14 years.

The TMVP and Sri Lanka's ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) contested municipal elections in Batticaloa jointly. The opposition United National Party (UNP) and the pro-rebel Tamil National Alliance (TNA) did not contest the polls citing security concerns.

The elections to the local Municipal Council took place almost eight months after the security forces wrested control of the entire eastern region from the LTTE.

Encouraged by successfully holding the local elections, the President asserted that his government had fully liberated the East from the "clutches of terrorism", paving the way for a fair and free election.

"We bestowed to them freedom and their democratic rights, replacing the gun culture which prevailed there," Rajapaksa said, adding the nurturing and the protection of freedom is of paramount importance.

According to media reports, President Rajapaksa said those who professed that free and fair election could not be held in Sri Lanka's eastern region had mislead the global community.  

"It has been proved to the world beyond any doubt that this region has been liberated, and a successful election held without any major untoward incidents," Rajapaksa said, expressing confidence that the government would be able to repeat this in rebel held areas such as Killinochchi and Mulaithivu.  

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for an independent state in Sri Lanka's north and east for the minority ethnic Tamils, alleging discriminations by governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority.

The fighting has killed more than 70,000 people.  

A 2002 ceasefire halted the fighting, but it escalated in the past two years. The military conflict has flared up after the government announced the end of the tattered ceasefire pact in January.

Source : PTI