The United States has broadly endorsed the conduct of parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka while condemning the electoral violence in which more than 60 people were killed and 700 injured. ''The election appears to have been basically free and fair in most parts of Sri Lanka. We do understand that violence and some irregularities may have undermined the conduct of the election in some localities,'' US state department spokesman Philip Reeker has said. The main opposition party and its allies won a majority in parliament, opening the way for a possible quick push for talks with separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.
Reeker said, ''We want to condemn the many incidents of violence, especially the killing of 10 Sri Lankan Muslim Congress supporters in Kandy on election day. We call for the perpetrators of those acts to be brought to justice.'' Bureau Report