Pro-rebel party wins one Sri Lanka council

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COLOMBO, Aug 9 (AFP): A party that backs the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels won a council in elections near Sri Lanka's former war zone, results showed Sunday, in a sign that separatists still attract popular support.
The Tamil National Alliance, a front for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), took five seats on the Vavuniya municipal council, while President Mahinda Rajapakse's People's Alliance got only two.
However the president's party won 13 seats on the Jaffna municipal council, defeating the Tamil National Alliance, which took eight.
Saturday's elections-the first in the area since government troops finally quashed the LTTE in May-were seen as an attempt by the national administration to test its popularity since fighting ended.