<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Sri Lankan security forces demolished the main anti-government protest camp in the capital Friday, evicting activists in a pre-dawn assault that raised international concern for dissent under the crisis-wracked country's new pro-Western president.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Troops and police Special Task Force commandos wielding batons and armed with automatic assault rifles charged on people blockading the sea-front Presidential Secretariat in Colombo.</div><div><br></div><div>Hundreds of soldiers removed demonstrators' barricades and tents outside the colonial-era building, while the last remaining protesters on the premises -- some were still on the steps -- were baton charged away.</div><div><br></div><div>The operation came hours before new president Ranil Wickremesinghe appointed an old friend as prime minister and the ousted head of state's personal lawyer as foreign minister.</div><div><br></div><div>Wickremesinghe was elected by legislators on Wednesday to replace Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled to Singapore and resigned after demonstrators chased him from his palace.</div><div><br></div><div>The remaining protesters -- far fewer than the thousands who overran several government buildings earlier this month -- have been demanding Wickremesinghe also quit.</div><div><br></div><div>They accuse him of protecting the Rajapaksa clan who have dominated politics for much of the last two decades.</div><div><br></div><div>- 'Listen to us' -</div><div>By sunrise, police commandos and soldiers barricaded the complex and the main roads leading to the area were cordoned off.</div><div><br></div><div>Hundreds of activists demonstrated at a nearby designated protest site against the military action, demanding the new president resign and dissolve parliament to allow fresh elections.</div><div><br></div><div>"Don't attack peaceful protesters, instead listen to us," said student Dimmithu, 26.</div><div><br></div><div>The activists insisted they would continue their struggle.</div><div><br></div><div>"The peoples' wish is system change, and parliament should be dissolved. It has no public mandate," said Basantha Samarasinghe, 45, a businessman and trade union leader.</div><div><br></div><div>Police said in a statement that security forces acted to clear protesters who were "illegally occupying" the presidential compound, with nine people arrested, two of whom were injured.</div><div><br></div><div>Wickremesinghe later met with several Colombo-based diplomats and US ambassador Julie Chung tweeted that she expressed "my grave concern over the unnecessary &amp; deeply troubling escalation of violence against protesters overnight".</div><div><br></div><div>"This is not the time to crack down on citizens," she added.</div><div><br></div><div>The European Union said freedom of expression was essential for Sri Lanka to transition from its chaos.</div><div><br></div><div>"Hard to see how restricting it severely can help in finding solutions to the current political and economic crises," the EU delegation in Colombo said.</div><div><br></div><div>Human Rights Watch said more than 50 people were injured in the crackdown and called on authorities to release the detained and prosecute those responsible for the violence.</div><div><br></div><div>"This action sends a dangerous message to the Sri Lankan people that the new government intends to act through brute force rather than the rule of law," the New York-based rights group said in a statement.</div><div><br></div><div>- Political rival -</div><div><br></div><div>A foreign exchange crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic was exacerbated by mismanagement, critics say, with Sri Lankans left to suffer lengthy power blackouts and record-high inflation.</div><div><br></div><div>The country's 22 million people have also endured months of food, fuel and medicine shortages.</div><div><br></div><div>On Friday, Wickremesinghe swore in his political rival Dinesh Gunawardena as the country's new prime minister.</div><div><br></div><div>The two men have been schoolmates and friends since the age of three but lead political parties that are ideologically opposed.</div><div><br></div><div>Wickremesinghe is a free-market champion and a pro-West politician while Gunawardena is a staunch Sinhala nationalist who wants greater state control over the economy.</div><div><br></div><div>"We have differences, but we have enough friendship to unite to deal with the main problem of the country, that is the economy," Gunawardena told reporters.</div><div><br></div><div>Wickremesinghe also swore in a new cabinet, largely re-instating his predecessor's ministers but retaining the finance portfolio for himself to continue bailout talks with the IMF.</div><div><br></div><div>He also replaced the foreign minister with Gotabaya Rajapaksa's personal lawyer Ali Sabry.</div><div><br></div><div>Officials said it was an "interim cabinet" that could be replaced "within weeks".</div><div><br></div><div>Hours after Wickremesinghe -- a six-time prime minister who had earlier extended a state of emergency -- was elected, he warned protesters that occupying state buildings was illegal and that they would be evicted unless they left on their own.</div><div><br></div><div>The day his predecessor was forced to flee, protesters also set fire to Wickremesinghe's private home in the capital.</div><div><br></div><div>Amnesty International urged Sri Lankan authorities to respect dissent and condemned the use of force against journalists, including a BBC photographer kicked in the stomach by troops who confiscated his videos.</div><div><br></div><div>Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa accused the government of using excessive force.</div><div><br></div><div>"Nothing can justify this inhumane act," he said. "Is attacking foreign journalists the most innovative policy of the new government to promote tourism?" - AFP</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>