Opposition press set on fire in Sri Lanka

Unidentified gunmen stormed a pro-opposition newspaper office in Sri Lanka on Wednesday and set fire to the printing presses, police said.

More than a dozen armed men started the blaze after breaking into the Sunday Leader newspaper building -- which is within a high-security air force complex on the edge of the capital Colombo -- and forced the staff out, police said.

The paper's chief editor, Lasantha Wickrematunga, accused the government of carrying out the attack. His newspaper has been highly critical of the administration of President Mahinda Rajapakse.

"It is a cowardly attack within a high-security zone by a regime that is acting like a terrorist organisation," Wickrematunga said. "What can you expect from a regime that is involved in human smuggling? We will prevail."

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