Sri Lanka protesters in talks to end occupation
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.
Protesters overran President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's palace at the weekend, forcing him to flee to the Maldives on Wednesday, when activists also stormed the office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The premier, whom Rajapaksa named as acting president in his absence, has demanded the evacuation of state buildings and instructed security forces to do "what is necessary to restore order".
Hundreds of thousands have visited the compound since it was opened out to the public after Rajapaksa fled and his security guards backed down.
"There is a move to return the buildings back to the authorities," an activist involved in the #GottaGoHome campaign said..
In a televised address after thousands of people captured his office in Colombo, Wickremesinghe declared: "Those who go to my office want to stop me from discharging my responsibilities as acting president.
"We can't allow fascists to take over. That is why I declared a nationwide emergency and a curfew," he added.
The curfew was lifted at dawn on Thursday, but police said a soldier and a constable were injured in overnight clashes with protesters outside the national parliament.
