Sri Lankans in the north of the country went to the polls on Saturday for the first time in 25 years to elect members to the newly formed northern provincial council.

Election monitors said that by noon quite a large number of voters had cast their ballots.

In some areas war displaced voters were transported over long distances to exercise their franchise in the election.

The People's Action For Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), an election monitoring body, said that voter turnout in the morning was lower than expected.

However, it picked up by noon and they expected it to increase by the time voting ends at 4 p.m. local time.

Incidents of voter intimidation and threats by men in uniform similar to that worn by the army had been reported in parts of the north.

The Bishop of the Northern town of Mannar, Ryappu Joseph, told Xinhua that the army had warned some people against voting for the main minority Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

A fake newspaper had also been distributed in Jaffna, saying the TNA had withdrawn from the elections though the party had been very much in the race.

The TNA had campaigned for the polls on a platform of pushing for self-determination for Tamils in the north, which included areas once under rebel control.

The Tamil Tiger rebels were defeated in May 2009 after 30 years of war in which thousands were killed, mostly Tamils.

The Sri Lankan government has accused the TNA of attempting to divide the country by promoting the ideology of the rebels, a charge the TNA denies.