COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, November 29, SPA -- Sri Lanka"s former army chief announced Sunday he will run for president as head of a coalition of opposition parties, challenging President Mahinda Rajapaksa in an electoral battle that will pit the two war heroes against each other, The Associated Press reported. «Yes, I will contest as a common candidate of the opposition political alliance,» said Fonseka at his maiden news conference as a politician, ending weeks of speculation about his decision. He pledged to abolish the powerful executive presidency to return power to parliament. Fifteen opposition parties _ all with little hope of defeating Rajapaksa on their own _ have said they would support Fonseka in the Jan. 26 presidential election. Rajapaksa, who still has two years left in his six-year term, called early elections to take advantage of his popularity after the military ended the civil war. --SPA 12:56 LOCAL TIME 09:56 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/723533