Opposition calls for unity to end Lankan bloodshed

Former premier Ranil Wickremesinghe called on the island's influential Buddhist clergy to help unite the majority Sinhalese community, who mainly follow Buddhism.

"We cannot have a peaceful solution to the conflict unless the two main parties in the country unite and have a common position on the national question," Wickremesinghe, himself from the Sinhalese-Buddhist community, said.

He urged the two main sects -- Malwatte and Asgiriya -- here in Kandy, 112 kilometres (72 miles) east of the capital Colombo, to bring about unity with his United National Party and the rival Freedom Alliance.

Both Wickremesinghe and his rival contender, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, also a Sinhalese Buddhist, worshipped Friday at Kandy's Temple of the Tooth, one of the holiest Buddhist shrines, shortly after filing their election nomination papers in Colombo.

They met the top Buddhist leaders separately and sought blessings of the monks in two separate ceremonies. The monks blessed both and urged them to work together for peace.

Wickremesinghe has vowed to revive peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels while Rajapakse has promised to overhaul the Norwegian-backed peace initiative if elected at the November 17 vote.

Buddhist monk Narampanawe Ananda said a peaceful solution had to be acceptable to all to end three decades of ethnic bloodshed which has claimed over 60,000 lives.

"Ending the conflict is the main challenge before the next president," Ananda told AFP.