Clashes prompt Sri Lanka curfew

The authorities in Sri Lanka have imposed curfews in the north-west and south of the island, after mobs attacked a Muslim refugee camp destroying property.

A BBC correspondent says other groups retaliated by burning shops in the town of Madurankuliya.

In the south, one person was killed in Galle after police fired on rioters and made arrests.

The inspector general of police told the BBC that the violence had been motivated by individual disagreements rather than communal differences.

But he said the situation was calm following meetings between community leaders - and the imposition of the curfews.

The BBC correspondent says the clashes follow attempts to reach a political solution to the problem of alleged persecution of Muslims by Tamils and the government.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service