Violence follows Sri Lanka curfew

Police in Sri Lanka have shot dead one man and wounded several others in continuing violence in the central town of Mawanella.

Reports say the trouble began on Monday when armed men attacked shops owned by members of the minority Muslim community in Mawanella which lies about eighty kilometres east of the capital, Colombo.

The Muslims then staged a protest which led to clashes between them and the police.

A curfew has been imposed and the army has sent extra troops to enforce it. Correspondents say Muslims comprise only about eight per cent of the population of Sri Lanka and are rarely involved in the type of ethnic hostility which has marred relations between the Buddhist Sinhalese and Hindu Tamils for many years.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service