<span style="color: #222222;">Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe granted amnesty to more than a thousand convicts, and they were released from jails across the country to mark Christmas. Among those freed today were people jailed for not being able to pay outstanding fines.<br />''<br />''The latest pardon came after police arrested nearly 15,000 people during a weeklong military-backed anti-narcotics drive that was halted on the eve of Christmas. A police statement said 13,666 suspects were arrested while nearly 1,100 addicts were detained and sent for compulsory rehabilitation at a military-run facility.</span><br />