President Shakes Up the Government
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga suspended Parliament, sacked the defense, interior and information ministers and deployed troops around the capital, Colombo. Kumaratunga made the surprise moves while her political rival, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, was in Washington to meet with President Bush.
Wickremesinghe, whose party defeated Kumaratunga’s in 2001 parliamentary elections, accused her of endangering efforts to end civil war against Tamil Tiger rebels. Kumaratunga criticized Wickremesinghe’s handling of the peace efforts.
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