video transcript

(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION) Sri Lanka -- along with President Mahinda Rajapaksa -- marked the 65th anniversary of independence from British rule in the eastern city of Trincomalee on Monday (February 4). The city was once a hotbed of Tamil separatist rebels whose war with the government ended in May 2009 when the military crushed the Liberation Tigers of tamil Eelam ending nearly two and a half decades of conflict. More than a thousand members of the three armed forces and the police took part in a parade as part of the independence celebrations. They were followed by hundreds of drummers and traditional dancers.