Sri Lanka President to resign after palace stormed

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has announced he will step down after protesters stormed his official residence and set the prime minister’s house on fire.

Neither the PM nor the president were in the buildings at the time.

Hundreds of thousands descended on the capital Colombo, calling for Mr Rajapaksa to resign after months of protests over economic mismanagement.

Mr Rajapaksa will step down on 13 July. PM Wickremesinghe has agreed to resign.

The speaker of parliament said the president decided to step down “to ensure a peaceful handover of power” and called on the public to “respect the law”.

The announcement triggered an eruption of celebratory fireworks in the city.

Political leaders are due to hold further meetings to discuss a smooth transition of power. Sri Lanka’s military has appealed to people to cooperate with security forces to maintain calm.

After Saturday’s events, the United States appealed to the Sri Lankan leadership to act promptly to resolve the country’s economic crisis.

One protester, Fiona Sirmana, who was demonstrating at the president’s house, said it was time “to get rid of the president and the prime minister and to have a new era for Sri Lanka”.