Sri Lanka alleges 'billions' lost in corruption at national carrier

Ranil Wickremesinghe gestures during a news conference in Colombo April 10, 2010. REUTERS/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's new government has ordered a criminal investigation into alleged corruption at the state-run national airline that it says involved "billions of dollars".

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office said an inquiry, led by an anti-corruption lawyer, had found "shocking details of corruption running into billions of dollars" at Sri Lankan Airlines, as well as "irregularities" in its $2.3 billion (2 billion pound) 2013 deal to buy 10 Airbus aircraft.