Colombo, July 13 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa landed in the neighbouring Maldives on Wednesday (July 13), local officials said, ahead of his expected resignation after months of protests.
The 73-year-old leader, his wife and a bodyguard were driven under police escort to an undisclosed location after they arrived in a military Antonov-32 aircraft from Sri Lanka, an airport official in Male told AFP.
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Mr Rajapaksa had promised at the weekend to resign on Wednesday and clear the way for a “peaceful transition of power”, after fleeing his official residence in Colombo just before tens of thousands of protesters overran it.
As president, Mr Rajapaksa enjoys immunity from arrest, and he is believed to have wanted to go abroad before stepping down to avoid the possibility of being detained.
READ: The Rajapaksa Regime Is Gone. What Next for Sri Lanka?
“Their passports were stamped and they boarded the special air force flight,” an immigration official involved in the process told AFP.
The departure of Mr Rajapaksa, once known as “The Terminator”, had been stymied for more than 24 hours in a humiliating stand-off with immigration personnel at the airport.
He had wanted to fly to Dubai on a commercial flight, but staff at Bandaranaike International Airport withdrew from VIP services and insisted that all passengers had to go through public counters.
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