``The elections are to be held after a lapse of 14 years, by itself a healthy sign of a return to democracy,'' the Media Centre for National Security said on its Web site. More than 270,000 voters are eligible to choose candidates for councils in Batticaloa district.

Before voting started today, a bomb exploded in the capital, Colombo, killing one civilian and injuring four schoolchildren. The LTTE was behind the attack, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The defeat in the east left the LTTE with bases only in the north. President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government is seeking $1.8 billion in aid to meet its pledge to rebuild the Eastern Province and bring investment and tourists to a region that has a 426-kilometer (265-mile) coastline of white sands. More... Discuss this story Published: Sun Mar 9 23:12:59 EDT 2008

Devika and thousands like her yearn for long-elusive, and lasting, peace after 25 years of war.

She was forced to flee her home in this former rebel-held town in the eastern district of Batticaloa yet again in 2007 as artillery-backed troops regained the rebels' eastern strongholds.

Monday's vote is seen as a test run for eventual provincial elections in the north and east, which the government regards as the basis for devolution it hopes will go hand in hand with its push to win the war militarily. More... Discuss this story Published: Sun Mar 9 13:14:52 EDT 2008