Gunmen shoot Sri Lanka investigative journalist

Unidentified gunmen have shot and seriously wounded a Sri Lankan investigative journalist, colleagues and officials said on Saturday, an incident likely to draw further attention to the Indian Ocean island nation's human rights record, BBC reports.

Political violence has eased since Sri Lanka's army crushed a three-decade Tamil separatist rebellion in May 2009, but international human rights groups say rule of law problems persist, including abductions and attacks on media and government critics.

Doctors at the Colombo National Hospital said Faraz Shaukatally, 52, a journalist at the weekly Sunday Leader, was undergoing further tests before being admitted for surgery.

Police said three unidentified gunmen entered the guest house where Shaukatally was staying, broke into his room and opened fire. Sunday Leader Editor Sakunthala Perera said the journalist was shot while he was on the telephone discussing a story to appear in this week's edition.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government has rejected allegations of mass killings.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, called on Sri Lankan authorities this week to allow international experts to help resolve issues of alleged wartime crimes.