S Lanka scraps press code amid protests

Sri Lanka's president has scrapped a contentious code of conduct for journalists after editors and rights groups condemned it as a further blow to press freedom, government and media sources said yesterday.
President Mahinda Rajapakse ordered his information ministry not to proceed with the proposed code of conduct bill, but instead leave it in the hands of senior editors to update their own code of ethics.
"The government will not go ahead with the code," a senior information ministry official told AFP on Sunday.
"The president met with editors on Friday and discussed the issue. They may or may not use elements of our draft," he added on condition of anonymity.
An editor who was at the meeting told AFP that Rajapakse made it clear that the government would not impose the proposed code on them.