Sri Lankan president 'lifts emergency'

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga is lifting the state of emergency she announced two days ago, a government spokesman said today, but she was preparing a new measure to boost the authority of the armed forces to respond to threats.

Nevielle Nanayakkara, who is in charge of printing government decrees and regulations, said Kumaratunga had cancelled the emergency, which officials yesterday had said would last for 10 days.