Charges will be filed “within the next two weeks” under the country’s penal code, the government said on its Web site.

“He will be accused of fraud, condoning fraud, plotting against the government, creating unrest within the army and keeping army deserters under his protection,” the government cited G.L. Peiris, the minister of export development and international trade, as saying late yesterday.

Fonseka was the main challenger to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was re-elected in the first national ballot since the defeat of Tamil Tiger separatists last May ended a 26-year conflict. The former army chief was arrested Feb. 8, a move that prompted opposition protests and accusations the government intends to prevent him from participating in general elections scheduled for April. More...Discuss this story Published: Thu Feb 25 20:18:13 EST 2010

“Sluggish” revenue growth and government spending to rebuild after the end of the island’s 26-year civil war caused the fiscal deficit to overshoot the IMF’s target, the Washington-based lender said today.

“We are currently assessing the implications of this outturn for bringing the underlying budget deficit to a sustainable level,” the IMF said in a statement in Colombo today.

Central bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said Feb. 9 that Sri Lanka will find it “challenging” to meet this year’s budget deficit target. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who called parliamentary polls for April after winning reelection at a Jan. 26 ballot, has pledged to spend $1 billion a year to build new roads and power plants in the war-torn north. More...Discuss this story Published: Thu Feb 25 08:58:56 EST 2010

Miliband, the foreign secretary, used his address to the inaugural conference of the Global Tamil Forum at the Commons yesterday to urge the Sri Lankan government to embark on a "genuinely inclusive political process". More...Discuss this story Published: Thu Feb 25 22:34:24 EST 2010