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| Sri Lanka |
| Sri Lanka: Warnings of 'bloodbath' as political tensions rise |
| 2018-10-30 |
| [Al Jazeera] Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena has come under increased pressure to allow politicians resolve a power struggle with his sacked prime minister, amid warnings that the country's deepening political crisis could devolve into a "bloodbath". The concern over possible violence came on Monday as politicians loyal to removed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe called on their supporters to converge on Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, to protest against what they said was a coup by Sirisena. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya urged the president to let Wickremesinghe prove his majority support on the parliament floor. "If we take it out to the streets, there will be a huge bloodbath," he told a news conference. Referring to the death of one man when the bodyguard of one of Wickremesinghe's deposed ministers opened fire on a crowd at the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) on Sunday, Jayasuriya added: "There is unrest and foreign countries are issuing travel warnings. "This will set the country back on the international stage and damage our economy." Police on Monday took the dismissed minister, Arjuna Ranatunga, into custody after workers at the CPC threatened to strike, demanding his arrest over their colleague's killing. He was released hours later. |
| Posted by:Fred |