Heraldo de Madrid - Sri Lankan president flies out of country: officials

NYSE - LSE

CMSD	-0.05%	21.58	$
CMSC	-0.12%	21.45	$
NGG	-0.19%	81.05	$
JRI	0.5%	12.61	$
RIO	-0.43%	95.68	$
BCC	-1.07%	83.24	$
GSK	-0.97%	49.52	$
BCE	0.64%	23.47	$
RBGPF	0%	71.34	$
BTI	-0.51%	57.06	$
BP	0.52%	42.53	$
RELX	-0.7%	34.43	$
VOD	1.22%	16.42	$
RYCEF	0.62%	20.84	$
AZN	-0.5%	156.45	$

Sri Lankan president flies out of country: officials

POLITICS 12.07.2022

Sri Lankan president flies out of country: officials / Photo: Arun SANKAR - AFP

Sri Lanka's embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flew out of the country early Wednesday heading to the neighbouring Maldives, local officials said.

Text size:

The 73-year-old leader, his wife and a bodyguard were among four passengers on board an Antonov-32 Sri Lankan military aircraft which took off from Colombo's international airport, immigration officials told AFP.

"Their passports were stamped and they boarded the special air force flight," an immigration official involved in the process said. There was no immediate confirmation Rajapaksa had reached the Maldives.

Airport officials said the aircraft was held up for over an hour on the tarmac without being able to take off following confusion over permission to land in the Maldives.

"There were some anxious moments, but in the end everything worked out OK," an airport official said, asking not to be named.

"The aircraft is due to land at the Male international airport."

Many of the president's entourage did not travel with him on board the aircraft, he added.

They had travelled to the airport with the President on Monday to board a flight to Dubai, but were turned back after a tense standoff over stamping their passports through a VIP service.

Rajapaksa had earlier promised to announce his resignation Wednesday, saying that he wants to allow a "peaceful transition of power".

He fled from his official residence in the capital on Saturday after tens of thousands of angry protesters stormed it, following months of demonstrations calling for his resignation over the country's worst-ever economic crisis.

He had wanted to travel abroad while he still enjoyed immunity from prosecution before stepping down to avoid the possibility of being detained.

His previous attempts to arrange a military flight to Sri Lanka's closest neighbour India failed as clearance for a military aircraft to land in a civilian airport was not given.

I.Ponce--HdM

Featured

Jaded voters, same old choices: Brazil kicks off election campaign

Brazil's leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his right-wing rival Flavio Bolsonaro kick off their election campaigns on Sunday in a race that has many voters feeling a weary sense of deja vu.

'Everyone lives in fear': Yemenis worry about return to all-out war

Yemen's years-long civil conflict killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted millions and drove the country to the brink of famine before a 2022 truce restored relative calm. Now, renewed hostilities between the Houthi rebels and the government have many fearing the return of all-out war.

Zambia's vote marred by intimidation, counting pause: observers

International observers of Zambia's elections said Saturday the poll was marred by claims of intimidation, abductions and an hours-long pause in the vote count.

South Korea president proposes talks with North to formally end Korean War

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung proposed talks with North Korea to formally end the long-running Korean War, as Pyongyang deepens ties with Russia while asserting its status as an "irreversible" nuclear state.