News stories by Alan Keenan

BRUSSELS, Jan 25 (IPS) - On 28 October, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed the militant Buddhist monk Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara to head a presidential task force on legal reforms, shocking many in Sri Lanka and beyond. Gnanasara is the public face of the country’s leading anti-Muslim campaign group, Bodu Bala Sena (Army of Buddhist Power, or BBS). He is widely accused of inciting inter-communal violence, including two deadly anti-Muslim pogroms in June 2014 and March 2018.

BRUSSELS, Nov 21 (IPS) - On 16 November, Gotabaya Rajapaksa – who served as defence secretary during the final phase of Sri Lanka's brutal civil war – won a decisive victory in Sri Lanka's presidential election.