SRILANKA'S AFTER STORMS

MUSLIMS pray under military protection after riots.

SOLDIERS and police guarded mosques across Sri Lanka during Friday prayers amid fears of  new anti-Muslim  attacks after four days of riots that have left at least three dead.

Most  Muslim-owned businesses in the island nation remained shut in protest at attacks by  mainly  Buddhist Sinhalese  groups concentrated around the central city of Kandy.

Armed troops and constables patrolled outside mosques while in Kandy, prayers were said in open grounds in many places because mosques had been vandalised or burnt.

''There  were no incidents during the  Friday prayers.'' a police official in Colombo said, adding that investigators had stepped the search for those who took part in the violence.

At least 140 people, including the main instigator, have been arrested over the unrest, police said.

They named the main suspect as  Amith Weersinghe, a Sinhalese known for   anti-Muslim  activism and outspoken social media posts. He was held Thursday.

Internet services, which were blocked across Kandy, were restored on Friday, but access to social media sites such as  Facebook, remained blocked  across Sri Lanka.

Police said  Sinhalese extremists  were using  social media  sites and messaging applications to spread hate speech and instigate attacks on the Muslim minority.

[Agencies]