Gearing up for an electoral fight with Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's war hero, Gen Sarath Fonseka, addressed his first political gathering in Colombo, pledging to fight "corruption" and expose the government's "misdeeds" if elected President.

Fonseka, the common opposition candidate for the forthcoming Presidential election, said he "will expose the Rajapaksa regime of its misdeeds and rampant corruption at the opportune moment", the Sunday Island reported.