Sawt Falasteen - Sri Lanka steps up security as anger over economic crisis boils over

The South Asian nation is grappling with severe shortages of essentials, sharp price rises and crippling power cuts in its most painful downturn since independence in 1948. Many fear it will default on its foreign debts.

Thursday night's unrest outside Gotabaya Rajapaksa's private home in the capital saw hundreds of men and women, rallied by unidentified social media activists, demand he step down.

"Gota, go home," shouted a young woman as she marched to the president's home before clashes erupted with heavily armed police commandos and troops.

"We want our country back," shouted another woman, while others chanted "lunatic, lunatic, go home."

As police fired tear gas and water cannon, the crowd turned violent, setting ablaze two military buses, a police jeep, two patrol motorcycles and a three-wheeler. They also threw bricks at officers.

At least two protesters were wounded in police firing but it was not clear whether officers used live ammunition or rubber bullets. Four people were injured when a security vehicle ran over them.

Police said 53 protesters were arrested, but local media organisations said five news photographers were also detained and tortured at a local police station, a charge the government said it will investigate.

Elsewhere, another group of protesters barricaded a main road into Colombo with burning tyres.

An overnight curfew was lifted early Friday morning, but the police and military presence was beefed up around the city, with the burnt-out wreckage of a bus still blocking the road to Rajapaksa's house.

Officials said security had been stepped up across the country as there were calls for nationwide protests later Friday. Social media posts called on people to demonstrate peacefully outside their homes.

- 'Terrorists' -

Two government ministers said a major intelligence failure had placed the lives of the president and his wife in danger.

"Both the president and his wife were at their home when the protests were going on," Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters in Colombo, discounting earlier claims that they were away at the time.

"We had information of a demonstration, but nothing suggesting that it could turn violent. This is a major intelligence failure."

Transport Minister Dilum Amunugama said "terrorists" were behind the unrest.

Rajapaksa's office said Friday that the protesters wanted to create an "Arab Spring" -- a reference to anti-government protests in response to corruption and economic stagnation that gripped the Middle East over a decade ago.

"The Thursday night protest was led by extremist forces calling for an Arab Spring to create instability in our country," the president's office said in a brief statement.

Videos shared on social media verified as genuine by AFP showed men and women shouting anti-Rajapaksa slogans and demanding that all members of the powerful Rajapaksa family step down.

There were claims on social media that another powerful member of the ruling family was prevented from attending a flower show in the central hills on Friday after spectators began booing.

The president's elder brother Mahinda serves as prime minister while the youngest, Basil, is finance minister. His eldest brother and nephew also hold cabinet positions.

Sri Lanka's predicament has been compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic, which torpedoed tourism and remittances.

Many economists also say the crisis has been exacerbated by government mismanagement and years of accumulated borrowing.

- Record inflation -

The latest official data released Friday showed inflation in Colombo hit 18.7 percent in March, the sixth consecutive monthly record. Food prices soared a record 30.1 percent.

Colombo imposed a broad ban on imports in March 2020 in a bid to save foreign currency needed to repay nearly $7.0 billion this year to service its $51 billion debt.

Diesel shortages have sparked outrage across Sri Lanka in recent days, with protests kicking off in a number of towns but not aimed at any top leader.

Since Thursday diesel has been unavailable at stations across the island, according to officials and media reports.

The state electricity monopoly said it was enforcing a daily 13-hour power cut from Thursday -- the longest ever -- because it did not have diesel for generators.

Several state-run hospitals have stopped carrying out surgeries as they have run out of essential medicines.

The government has said it is seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund while asking for more loans from India and China.

IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters in Washington on Thursday that talks should begin "in the coming days", with Sri Lanka's finance minister expected in the US capital.

G.AbuGhazaleh--SF-PST