Sri Lanka's minority Tamils began voting on Saturday in an election they hope will give them a shot at self-rule after decades of ethnic bloodshed that claimed over 100,000 lives.

Tamils in the country's battle-scarred northern province are voting for the first time to elect a semi-autonomous council, in an election called amid international pressure on the Sinhalese-dominated government to share power with the main ethnic minority.

"Even though this is a local election, there is more interest in it locally and internationally," S Arumainayaham, the top civil administrator in Jaffna, told reporters.

Printing press worker Anandan Kumaraswamy, 57, was among the first to vote at the Mankayarkarasi College polling station near Jaffna's Nallur Hindu temple and was praying for change.

"I have never seen this type of interest in an election here. I hope it will bring change," he said.

Retired supreme court judge K. Wigneswaran, who is expected to be elected as the region's chief minister, said he wants to work with Colombo on pushing his Tamil National Alliance (TNA) manifesto, which calls for "self-government" for Tamils.

Mr Wigneswaran's priorities are payment of war reparations, securing an army pull-out from the former zone, and taking back land the military still occupies four years after defeating Tamil Tiger rebels who fought for outright independence.

"I will try to work with the (Colombo) government," he said.

But he said he will take his case to the international community if Colombo fails to cooperate.

Among the TNA candidates is civil servant Anandi Saseedaran, 42, whose husband, a senior Tiger political wing cadre, had disappeared after giving himself up to the military four years ago.

Reports of voters being pressured by military

Armed police guarded polling booths and there was no sign of troops in and around Jaffna city, but the TNA said the picture was different elsewhere in remote areas.

"In most rural areas, the military is asking voters not to cast their ballots," TNA candidate Dharmalingam Sithadthan said.

"There is also a big smear campaign against the TNA."

He said he visited more than 10 polling booths and noticed military intelligence officers asking voters not to vote for the "house", the symbol of the TNA.

"They are doing this in a threatening manner," Mr Sithadthan said.

Those reports could not be immediately independently confirmed.

President Rajapakse, who campaigned in Jaffna last week for his candidates, accused the TNA - a coalition of several Tamil groups, including ex-militants - of raising expectations of a separate state.

"The TNA is misleading the people by promising self-government and independence," he told a rally of his United People's Freedom Alliance.

Mr Wigneswaran hit back on Friday, saying Mr Rajapakse was maintaining an "occupation army" to keep Tamils under "constant surveillance".

"They are here for a political purpose and not for security reasons," he said.

"They must go."

AFP