Sri Lanka’s Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa has accused the US Embassy in Colombo of having recruited 5,000 youth on the island to carry out social media campaigns against the government.
According to the Colombo Gazette, Weerawansa claimed that the youth, recruited with the help of the UNP, were being paid for their campaigns.
The minister, who is also the leader of the National Freedom Front, a member of the ruling coalition, accused Ambassador Michele Sison of working with the UNP to destabilise the country, adding that the UNP possessed a list of the youths recruited by the embassy.
“When people respond to the posts published by those used in the campaign the public will assume most people are against the Government,” he said, saying that the ultimate goal of the US was to do what it had done in “some Middle Eastern countries”.