Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has told the military to do "whatever is necessary to restore order" after protesters stormed his office on Wednesday. Mr Wickremesinghe has been appointed acting president by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has fled the country. But the decision to leave him in charge triggered further protests demanding that the prime minister must also go.
Sri Lanka's anti-government demonstrators said on Thursday they were ending their occupation of official buildings, as they vowed to press on with their bid to bring down the president and prime minister in the face of a dire economic crisis.
Sri Lanka's anti-government demonstrators were in talks Thursday to hand back official buildings they seized, protest representatives said, even as they insisted the president and prime minister both quit in the face of an economic crisis.