President has fled and won’t be missed

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has landed in the neighbouring Maldives after fleeing the country amid mass protests and the sacking of his presidential palace.

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 said.

Colombo Airport officials said the aircraft was held up for over an hour on the tarmac without being able to take off following confusion over whether it had 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.

Many of the President’s entourage did not travel with him on the aircraft, he added.

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

Mr Rajapaksa had earlier promised to announce his resignation on Wednesday, saying he wanted to allow a “peaceful transition of power”.

But he was yet to send his resignation letter to Sri Lanka’s parliamentary speaker before fleeing the country.

The embattled President 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 as President 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 by New Delhi.