Bomb attack targets Sri Lanka opposition ahead of vote

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Sri Lankan police check the wreckage of the home of an opposition activist following a bomb attack.

COLOMBO, Jan 22 (AFP): A key opposition activist in Sri Lanka was targeted at home by a bomb attack Friday, police said, as violence escalated ahead of next week's presidential election.
The blast destroyed a car and severely damaged the home of Tiran Alles, a wealthy businessman and key ally of the opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka, but he and his family escaped unhurt.
"The attackers are believed to have come in a van and carried out the attack and fled," a police official at the scene said, adding that no arrests had been made in connection with the pre-dawn bombing.
Charred debris was strewn over the frontyard of the fire-damaged house and the roof had partially collapsed.
That attack came amid tightened security as Sri Lankans prepare to go to the polls next Tuesday to choose between President Mahinda Rajapakse and his former army chief Fonseka.
An opposition spokesman alleged Alles had been targeted by the ruling party after Fonseka's campaign released a photograph of Rajapakse's eldest son Namal with a Tamil rebel leader at a London nightclub.