Sri Lanka arrests defeated presidential candidate

General Sarath Fonseka, the defeated candidate in Sri Lanka's presidential election, has been arrested in Colombo on charges of plotting to overthrow the country's government, defense officials said. In a statement, the defense ministry said Fonseka would be charged with "fraudulent acts and other military offenses" from his time in the army, which ended in November when he quit to enter politics. Keheliya Rambukwella, a defense ministry spokesman, said Fonseka had been "plotting against the president while in the military". "When he was the army commander and chief of defense staff and member of the security council, he had direct contact with opposition political parties, which under the military law can amount to conspiracy," he said.