Mr. Hisbullah crossed over to the ruling party to contest the eastern PC polls

Addressing an election rally in Oluvil, Ampara, the president said the security forces are moving forward to capture the north from the Tamil Tigers.

He pledged to establish democracy in the north soon after capturing the region from the rebels.

The elections for the eastern PC are to be held on 10 May.

'Stop me if you can'

Accusing the LTTE of killing innocent civilians, Mr. Rajapaksa challenged to the LTTE to ‘stop him’ if they can.

	President challenged the LTTE to 'get him' instead of killing civilians

He said that he would not "dwell in the graveyard" if he was afraid of the devil. (Yakaata bayanam sohoney geval hadan nea).

Muslim religious leaders appealed, President Rajapaksa said, to capture Muttur and Sampur from the LTTE so that they could celebrate Ramadan festival.

Commenting on the de-merger of the eastern province, the president vowed not to merge the two provinces once again.

The north and east provinces that were temporary merged under the Indo-Lanka accord were de-merged after a Supreme Court ruling.