Rajapaksa ally named PM in Sri Lanka as protest site cleared
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A Rajapaksa political ally was appointed Sri Lanka’s prime minister Friday, hours after army troops and police forcefully cleared the main protest site occupied for months by demonstrators angry at the Rajapaksas over the country’s economic collapse. The overnight raid occurred even though protesters had announced they would vacate the site on Friday voluntarily, and the U.N., U.S. and others denounced the heavy-handed force that was used. A lawyer said several protesters were hospitalized for injuries and that journalists and a lawyer were among people arrested. Sri Lankans have taken to the streets for months demanding their leaders resign over an economic crisis that has left the island nation’s 22 million people short of essentials like medicine, food and fuel.
