Sri Lanka President Gotabya Rajapaksa Departs From Country

The embattled President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa flew out of the country early today, possibly as a prelude to his resignation following months of protests over the worst economic crisis in its history. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had promised to resign to make way for a peaceful transition of power. He fled his Colombo residence just before protestors overran it.

According to immigration sources, Rajapaksa is President and enjoys immunity from arrest. He, his wife, and a bodyguard were four of the passengers aboard an Antonov-32 military aircraft that took off from the main international airfield heading to the neighboring Maldives. As per an official from immigration, "Their passports were stamped" and they boarded the special aircraft force flight.

After a humiliating standoff with airport immigration staff, the departure of the 73-year-old leader was stalled for more than 24 hours. He wanted to fly to Dubai on a commercial flight. However, Bandaranaike International staff withdrew their VIP services and demanded that all passengers go through public counters.

According to a security official, the presidential party was reluctant to use regular channels for fear of public reactions. They missed four flights that could have taken them into the United Arab Emirates on Monday.

Clearance was not immediately granted for a military flight to land at the nearest neighbor India. A security official stated that the group headed towards a naval base on Tuesday with the intention of fleeing by water. Rajapaksa’s younger brother Basil, who resigned as finance minister in April, missed his Emirates flight to Dubai on Tuesday morning after a heated standoff with the airport staff.

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