As Sri Lanka's presidential election approaches, what appears to be a tough campaign race has kicked off.<br /><br />For decades, the country was embroiled in an on-and-off civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist group who has fought for an independent state for the country's ethnic minority Tamils.<br /><br />But last year Mahinda Rajapaksa, the incumbent president, claimed victory over the Tamil Tigers following the deaths of its senior leaders in a major military offensive.<br /><br />Now the army general who led those troops is challenging Rajapaksa.<br /><br />Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay reports from Kalutara on how the people of Sri Lanka are split in a tight presidential campaign race.<br /><br />[January 21, 2010]
