COLOMBO - HUNDREDS of Sri Lankan journalists took to the streets on Friday to protest against the killing of a newspaper editor, as the government came under local and foreign pressure to protect freedom of expression.

The demonstration in Colombo demanded a halt to violence, threats and intimidation after Thursday's shooting of Lasantha Wickrematunga, chief editor of the Sunday Leader, which has been highly critical of the government.

Opposition lawmakers also protested inside parliament, accusing the government of being responsibile for the killing.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) asked ambassadors in Colombo to 'weigh in forcefully and immediately' with President Mahinda Rajapakse to put an end to the attacks 'raining down' on Sri Lanka's media.

'The international community in Colombo must act quickly to bring pressure on President Rajapakse to reverse this murderous trend,' the CPJ said.

It said the sheer brutality of the attacks in recent days was a clear indication of how the war on the Sri Lankan media had moved far beyond the use of threats, intimidation, legal harassment, and sporadic violence.

The United States, European Union, India and the World Bank also joined in condemning Thursday's shooting by unidentified gunmen just outside the capital.

'This is the second attack in 48 hours against individuals or media outlets and just the latest in a string of incidents against journalists,' the US State Department said in a statement that demanded an immediate probe.

The local Free Media Movement and the Working Journalists Association said the government needed to catch the perpetrators if it wanted to clear its name.

Sri Lanka's main opposition has said it does not trust the local police to investigate and demanded an international probe.

The shooting came just two days after unidentified attackers torched a privately owned television station labelled as 'unpatriotic' by sections of the state media for its coverage of the island's bitter ethnic conflict.

The Sunday Leader is virulently anti-establishment and regularly lampoons politicians. Mr Wickrematunga, a qualified lawyer, had often fought defamation cases brought by senior politicians.

Mr Rajapakse quickly condemned the killing, saying it highlighted 'the existence of forces that will go to the furthest extremes in using terror and criminality to damage our social fabric'. The Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said the government was responsible for Mr Wickrematunga's death. -- AFP