Early results in Sri Lanka's first election since Tamil Tiger rebels were defeated after 25 years of civil war put the president in the lead.

经历泰米尔猛虎组织叛乱分子发动的25年内战之后，斯里兰卡举行的首次选举初步结果显示，总统得票处于领先。

Early results suggest the president has a million votes already

According to early counts, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has won over 60% of the popular vote.

Armed troops have gathered around the hotel where his rival for the presidency¹, General Sarath Fonseka, is staying in central Colombo.

A military spokesman said their presence was a "protective measure".

Udaya Nanayakkara said that some 400 people had gathered near the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel in the capital.

High turn-out

"We don't know what is their motive² and, as a protective measure, we have deployed展开，部署 troops around the hotel, and people who go in and come out are being checked," he said, according to Reuters路透社.

Gen Fonseka has said he fears the troops plan to arrest him if he wins the election, a claim denied by officials. Gen Fonseka is due to give a press conference from the hotel in the coming hours.

Election officials said Mr Rajapaksa had garnered⁴获得，存储 just over a million ballots⁵ in an election in which 9.85 million voted.

Some 70% of the electorate选民，选区 of 14.08 million turned out to vote.

The BBC's Charles Haviland, in Colombo, said early results suggested that Gen Fonseka - who leads a motley杂混的 group of opposition⁷ parties - had failed to split the ethnic⁸ Sinhalese僧伽罗人 vote, meaning that the country's Tamil and Muslim minorities would not necessarily play a decisive part in the poll's outcome.

Under Sri Lanka's electoral rules, if no candidate wins 50% of ballots cast in the first count, then voters' second - or even third - preferences选择权 are tallied⁹计算 to determine the winner.