Update – The Air Force confirms that a Sri Lanka Air Force plane was given to the President to depart for the Maldives on the morning of July 13.
These activities were carried out in accordance with the powers vested in an Executive President in the Constitution and subject to the full approval of the Ministry of Defense, immigration customs and all other laws at the Katunayake International Airport, says SriLanka Air Force.
The President, wife and two bodyguards were given this plane to travel from Katunayake Airport to Maldives, SLAF further says.
Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa reportedly left the country.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled the country, hours before his promised resignation amid widespread protests over his handling of the country’s worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.
Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards flew on a Sri Lankan Air Force plane to Male, the capital of the Maldives, news agencies reported citing unnamed government and immigration officials.
He arrived in Male early on Wednesday morning, the AFP news agency reported. There was no official confirmation of his arrival from authorities in the Maldives.
He has left the country on a military jet and has arrived in the capital of the Maldives, Male, at around 03:00 local time (22:00 GMT) reports Foreign Media.
