COLOMBO. July 6 Sri Lanka's five-year-old state of emergency will continue through parliamentary elec Uons on August 16 contrary to earlier reports it would be lifted. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe said on Tuesday, reports Reuter

1 don't think you can let It lapse... because of the situation in the north and the east, he told Reuters in an interview.

Wtckremasinghe said President Dingirl Banda Wijetunga. would have to resummon Parliament, which was dissolved at midnight on June 17, to vote on the extension of the emergency.

The emergency rule, which must be extended every month by presidential proclamation and then approved by parliament, was due to lapse on June 15. It was first declared in Jur»e 1989 as a mean so combatting Sri Lankas Eelam (LTTE).

Last Sunday a spokesman for the Attorney General said the President planned to lift the emergency because he did not want it to remain in force during the elections.

Opposition politicians have accused the government of using emergency rule to harass opponents instead of fighting the rebels.

The slate of emergency gives the security forces powers to arrest and detain suspects indefinitely without trial.

The LTTE, which has been fighting for a separate state in Sri Lanka's north and east since 1983 has vowed to disrupt the poll in both areas.

Election Commissioner Chandreanade de Silva told reporters on Tuesday he would go ahead with the poll in both regions despite the threat. '