Sri Lankan opposition candidate arrested

He was victorious in battle, vanquished in elections, and now the four-star general who wanted to become the president of Sri Lanka has been arrested for "committing military offences".

The arrest was not wholly unexpected. Several people connected with his campaign have been detained or questioned.

The former army chief was defeated by incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa last month by six million votes to four million.

General Fonseka rejected the election results and vowed to challenge them in court.

General Fonseka led the successful assault against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE ) that ended 26 years of war last May. He was once quite close to Rajapaksa but the two fell out in the aftermath of the war.

Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith reports.