Counting of votes for the 11th Parliament in Sri Lanka began as soon as all the ballot boxes reached counting centres across the island nation. Voting for 196 of the 225 seats began at 7am local time and came to an end at 4pm. Voting under tight security had progressed briskly despite Tamil Tiger rebels shelling several areas of the northern Jaffna peninsula and polls-related violence. Election monitors complained of large-scale rigging, bombings and murders in some areas of the country and urged the elections monitor to annul the polls there. The first results are expected by midnight. A close contest is expected between Kumaratunga`s ruling PA and the main opposition United National Party (UNP) led by Ranil Wickremesinghe in the election. Final result are likely to be out by Wednesday night. Bureau Report