Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga returned to the island Tuesday ending her near three week visit to the United States, airport officials said.

Kumaratunga returned home at around 5:30 p.m. local time (11:30 GMT) having attended the UN general assembly sessions in New York.

Her Freedom Party sources said that Kumaratunga was likely to address election rallies in support of her party's presidential candidate the incumbent Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse in the run up to the Nov. 17 presidential poll.

Kumaratunga who cannot contest a third time for the executive presidency chose Rajapakse as her candidate to vie against the main opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

However, Kumaratunga called for Rajapakse's explanation of his electoral pacts with a leftist party and a nationalist party, both of which she termed violating her party's policy.

It is unclear if Kumaratunga would press for action against Rajapakse or would resort to dissolving parliament to opt for a parliamentary election.

Independent media here Monday speculated that she may dissolve parliament upon her return as she was not happy with Rajapakse's alliances with groups that she would not be happy with.

The Sri Lankan president was first elected to her office in 1994 and re-elected in 1999. She is expected to lead her Freedom Party despite bowing out of the presidency in December.

Source: Xinhua