Official resigns amid corruption allegations

The chairman of the group which promotes foreign investment in Sri Lanka has resigned following a major bribery scandal.

Thilan Wijesinghe submitted his resignation from the Board of Investment after the country's independent Bribery Commission filed court proceedings against him for allegedly soliciting a bribe of a million dollars and then accepting part of it as an advance payment to approve a flour mill project in 1999.

Mr Wijesinghe, who spent five years at the head of the board, said he was stepping down to clear his name.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service