The government yesterday rejected a call to bring in a team of international experts to investigate the killing of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, saying the Sri Lanka police were capable of conducting the investigation themselves.
Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa told The Sunday Times that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had already directed the Inspector General of Police, Jayantha Wickramaratne, to conduct a thorough and impartial inquiry into Mr. Wickrematunge’s death, and that outside assistance was therefore not necessary.
The UNP and several opposition parties have called on the government to appoint an international team to carry out the probe, saying they do not have confidence in the local police and local investigators.
The editor was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Bakery Junction in Attidiya while he was driving to office on Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, the police are conducting a separate investigation to ascertain whether there is a link between the recent attack on the MTV/MBC studio in Pannipitiya and the assassination of Mr. Wickrematunga.
“Our detectives are probing the case from every possible angle,” a senior police officer said. “We are trying to ascertain if the same assailants who were involved in the MTV/MBC studio attack were responsible for the killing of The Sunday Leader editor. So far we have no leads in either investigation, but we are analysing fingerprints found at the scene of the attack on the MTV/MBC complex.”
The Police Fingerprint Bureau has so far gathered 24 separate fingerprints relating to the MTV/MBC attack, and four fingerprints from the car Mr. Wickrematunga was driving when he was shot dead. | 
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