Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse was sworn in Friday for a second six-year term by Chief Justice Asoka de Silva at a nationally televised ceremony outside his seafront office.
Mr Rajapakse took the oath of office on an open-air stage and was blessed by Buddhist monks before the start of a military parade and a 21-gun salute in his honour.
Mr Rajapakse won re-election in January after calling an election four years into his six-year term. The Supreme Court ruled that his new mandate should begin from November — the anniversary of his first presidential victory in 2005.