Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, secretly left the country, an emigration officer confirmed to local media in the early hours of Wednesday. This was done in the face of intense public opposition and an ultimatum to resign from protestors who violently occupied the President's House on Saturday.
President Rajapaksa flown to the Maldives with his wife and bodyguard from Katunayake, closer to the capital, the officer said, seeking anonymity. Immigration officers stopped Rajapaksa from escaping early on Tuesday with his brother, the former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa. However, the source stated that he left the nation in an Antonov-32 aircraft belonging to the Sri Lankan Air Force that took off from the main international airport.
The two Rajapaksa brothers were to leave for the UAE to go to the US on Tuesday morning, but immigration officers at the VIP lounge protested and declined to serve them. The Rajapaksa brothers had left the airport, amidst protests, and Gotabaya is said to have taken refuge for almost a day at an Air Force base adjoining the airport.
On July 9 (Saturday), protesters entered Rajapaksa's official residence, symbolically forcing him out. Gotabaya had previously stated that he would step down on Wednesday but is now said to have changed his mind, saying that he would not step down if his family members were denied permission to leave the country.
Protesters had issued a deadline of Wednesday at 1 p.m. for the President's resignation and threatened to call large crowds to Colombo if he broke his word.
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