Sri Lanka: anti-government editor shot dead...

The editor of an anti-government newspaper has been shot dead in Sri Lanka, two days after attackers torched the offices of the country’s privately-owned television station. 

Lasantha Wickrematunga, editor of the Sunday Leader newspaper, was shot in the chest, head and abdomen while travelling to work in his car this morning. He died several hours later on the operating table. The two men who attacked him were believed to have escaped on motorcycles. 

The fatal attack is the latest in a string of attacks against journalists critical of the government amid an atmosphere of growing patriotic fervour caused by the seemingly imminent military collapse of the Tamil Tiger guerrillas in the north. More...

See also:

1. Sri Lanka: is the media being intimidated by the State?
2. Sri Lanka: using terror against free speech...
3. Sri Lanka: Life after 25 years...