Lasantha Wickramatunga shot dead in Colombo

Lasantha Wickramatunga, editor of popular Sri Lankan newspaper The Sunday Leader, has been shot dead as he drove to work in the capital Colombo. The editor, whose newspaper sub header reads “Unbowed And Unafraid”, had often been critical of the government. In his last editorial he said,

Winning the war? Then there must be elections around the corner. It is no secret that the war has become Mahinda Rajapakse’s recipe for electoral success; but what surprises many is that he is able, time and time again, to persuade the Sri Lankan people – or at least his Sinhala-Buddhist constituency – that victory is but a gunshot away. link

The printing presses of The Sunday Leader were attacked in late 2007. While earlier this week gunmen attacked a TV station near the capital.