Sri Lanka's Former Foreign Minister defects to opposition

* President Mahinda Rajapakse's party bribed Tamil Tiger rebels to stop ethnic minority Tamils in rebel-held territory from voting for his rival at the November 2005 elections.

* The government has resisted calls for an investigation into the allegations that over 15 million dollars was paid to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2005.

* The Tigers have declined to comment.

COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lanka's former foreign minister quit the government and joined the opposition amid a deepening political crisis for the war-torn island's shaky ruling coalition, officials said.
Ruling party legislator Mangala Samaraweera, who was sacked from his foreign ministry in February, crossed the floor of the House and sat among opposition legislators, a parliamentary official said.
Samaraweera was joined by another legislator who was also stripped of his junior ministry portfolio.
The duo had alleged that President Mahinda Rajapakse's party bribed Tamil Tiger rebels to stop ethnic minority Tamils in rebel-held territory from voting for his rival at the November 2005 elections, which he narrowly won.
The government has resisted calls for an investigation into the allegations that over 15 million dollars was paid to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2005. The Tigers have declined to comment.
The defection of two MPs from the ruling party is a psychological blow to the coalition government, which survives thanks to the support of 23 opposition legislators who defected to the ruling Freedom Alliance.