Rajapakse, Sri Lanka's fifth president, promised to respect a 2002 ceasefire with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) but warned he wanted the Norway-brokered truce reviewed.

"I want to state the dedication of my government to upholding the ceasefire (but) I am also ready to review the ceasefire agreement," Rajapakse said in an address to the nation after taking the oath of office.

The oath was administered by Chief Justice Sarath Silva at a ceremony in Colombo's colonial-style Presidential Secretariat overlooking the Indian Ocean at 1:20 pm (0720 GMT), a time said by astrologers to portend good fortune.

The 40-minute ceremony was marked by Kandyan dancing, which is traditionally performed at religious processions and ceremonies, and ended with a 21-gun salute by the military.

Rajapakse, a socialist who celebrated his 60th birthday Friday, won 50.3 percent of the popular vote in Thursday's presidential ballot, beating market-friendly Ranil Wickremesinghe, who polled 48.4 percent.

Dressed in white and sporting a burgundy shawl, the new president, who will hold office for six years, adopted a conciliatory tone.

"From this moment I will work towards my goal of making a new Sri Lanka," he said in Sinhalese. "I will try to achieve honorable peace for all. We will discuss peace talks with the LTTE and all political parties.

"When the LTTE says they are ready to return to peace negotiations we will start talks with them immediately. We will give priority to those talks."

Peace talks between Colombo and the Tigers have been deadlocked since April

During campaigning, Rajapakse had said he wanted to revisit the entire Norwegian-led peace process, leading the Tigers to brand the movie star-turned-prime minister as the "war candidate".

"It is an acknowledged fact that the ongoing peace process has certain shortcomings," Rajapakse told state television on the eve of the vote.

"If that is the case, the peace process has to be revised. Each and every step that was taken in the direction of peace has failed so far."

News of his election victory was greeted with caution by those driving the peace process, with two former Norwegian peacebrokers saying his taking over the reins of government could lead to deeper divisions and a rocky period.

"The situation could be very difficult," Development Aid Minister Erik Solheim told Norwegian news agency NTB.

Another ex-mediator, former state secretary Vidar Helgesen, said Rajapaske's election could cement the divisions in the country where more than 60,000 people were killed in three decades of fighting between 1972 and 2002.

The new president also said in his address he would start diplomatic consultations "with all friendly nations who have helped in the peace process."

He also said he would create a new institution to help with tsunami reconstruction, but did not elaborate. At least 31,000 people were killed in the December 26 tsunami and around a million displaced.

"I will ensure multi-party democracy," he said, adding that he would pursue the rule of law.

The United States, meanwhile, condemned what it called interference by the rebels in the island's democratic process, saying the Tigers had intimidated voters in the presidential elections.

Congratulating Rajapakse, the State Department said the United States "regrets that Tamil voters in the northern and eastern parts of the island did not vote in significant numbers due to a clear campaign of intimidation by the

As a result, "a significant portion of Sri Lanka's people were deprived of the opportunity to make their views known," department spokesman Adam Ereli said.

Poll monitors said many minority Tamil voters were forced out of Thursday's elections by rebels, who used intimidation and violence to prevent them from voting.

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