De Silva has been transferred to the Observer and Weerawansa to the Daily News, insiders said.

When contacted, Jayatillake de Silva, who was appointed editor of both the Observer and the Daily News with effect from yesterday, said "I was asked to take over the job and here I am". He refused to comment on the reasons for the removal of the two former editors.

A few years ago Jayatillake de Silva functioned as the editor of both Daily News and Observer in two different periods but was shown the door by the political hierarchy later.

According to reliable sources, though the reason given for Weerawansa’s removal was the drastic drop in circulation of the newspaper, well informed sources say that the main reason for his removal was due to an article that appeared in the Observer quoting the Army Commander as saying that veteran Tamil Nadu politician Methuen and some others are ‘Political Jokers’.

Both Pramod de Silva and Dinesh Weerawansa were on leave yesterday.