Sri Lanka's former top General Sarath Fonseka, who quit following a spat with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, on Sunday announced that he will be the joint candidate of opposition parties in the Presidential polls slated for January 26 next year.

"I am joining the race for Presidency," 58-year-old Fonseka told a packed press conference here.

His announcement that he will be the joint candidate of opposition parties, including the UNP, sets the stage for a showdown with Rajapaksa, who has called the elections on January 26, 2010, two years ahead of schedule.

Voicing confidence that he will win the polls against incumbent Rajapaksa, the former Chief of Defence Staff, credited with leading the military victory against the LTTE in May this year, said that foreign observers were the "need of the hour" for monitoring the presidential elections.

"This victory (against the LTTE) does not belong to one family," he said in an obvious reference to the Rajapaksa brothers holding top posts in the country, including Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Fonseka clarified that although he had said that historically the country belonged to the Sinhalese, but people of majority should protect the rights of minorities, including Tamils.

The former army chief also complained that his security has been reduced to 25 guards from a contingent of 600 security personnel. "If I die in an attack on road, hundreds will die along with me," Fonseka warned.

The ex-top General had earlier on Friday said that his goal was to "counter dictatorship" and set up a democratic society free of corruption and terror. "I have never lost a battle. I can win this one (the presidential polls) too," Fonseka had said addressing the National Lawyers Association.

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