Sri Lankan court overturns ban on five Tamils standing in local election

An appeal court in Sri Lanka has overturned a decision by the Election Commissioner to ban five members of a Tamil party from contesting local elections in the north of the country.

The nominations of the members of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front had been rejected because the candidates were under age.

A decision on two candidates from the biggest Tamil party, the Tamil United Liberation Front, was postponed due to an objection from another group contesting the election.

The poll is the first in northern Sri Lanka since the civil war broke out fifteen years ago.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service