Sri Lanka President orders ex-army chief freed

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Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse has ordered the release of his jailed electoral rival, ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka, the presidential spokesman said Sunday.

The former four-star general will be able to leave prison after formalities are completed on Monday, said Bandula Jayasekera. Fonseka was arrested two weeks after he failed to unseat Rajapakse at elections in January 2010.

"President signed the papers (ordering Fonseka's release) on the 18th evening... before leaving for Qatar (on Saturday)," Jayasekera said. "Papers will be sent to the ministry of justice on Monday."

The terms of Fonseka's release were not immediately clear.

But Rajapakse issued the order soon after the Colombo High Court on Friday granted Fonseka bail of one million rupees ($8,000) in a case in which he is accused of employing military deserters, his lawyer Saliya Peiris said.

The former general, who is credited with leading the military campaign that crushed Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009, was not in court as he was suffering a respiratory problem caused by injuries sustained in a suicide bombing in 2006.

Jail authorities have admitted him to a private hospital for treatment.

Fonseka's wife Anoma had met with Rajapakse on Wednesday to discuss the terms of his release and said that he offered an unconditional pardon.

"I was promised that my husband will be cleared of all charges and released unconditionally," she said on Thursday.

Fonseka fell out with the government over who should take credit for winning the war against the separatist Tigers.

Two weeks after his election defeat, Fonseka was detained on a charge of corruption relating to military procurements. He was convicted of the offence and was sentenced to 30 months in prison in September 2010.

Last November he was also convicted and sentenced to three years in jail for saying Tiger rebels who surrendered had been killed on the orders of the president's brother Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who is defence secretary.

He has appealed against that verdict.