Accompanied by his wife and his bodyguard, the 73-year-old leader was taken under police escort to an unknown destination at this stage.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, booed by a strong popular movement, arrived in the Maldives on Wednesday, local sources said.
The 73-year-old leader, who vowed to step down and had unsuccessfully attempted to leave the country on Tuesday, took off early Wednesday from Colombo International Airport with his wife and a bodyguard aboard an Antonov-32, immigration officials told AFP.
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“Their passports were stamped and they boarded this special Air Force operated flight“An immigration official told AFP.
An airport official in Malé, the capital of the Maldives, said around 10:30 p.m. GMT that the plane had landed and that the three passengers had been taken under police escort to a destination unknown at this stage.
According to Sri Lankan airport sources, the aircraft was held for over an hour on the airport tarmac awaiting clearance to land in the Maldives.
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Presidential immunity
“There were tense moments, but in the end it all ended wellsaid an airport official on condition of anonymity.
The president was turned away in a humiliating manner from Colombo airport on Tuesday by immigration officials and some of his advisers considered Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his entourage fleeing aboard a patrol vessel, according to a senior source. placed in the field of defence.
A navy vessel was used to transfer the head of state from the presidential palace besieged by protesters to the port of Trincomalee in the northeast of the country on Saturday.
Then, Gotabaya Rajapaksa joined Colombo International Airport by helicopter on Monday.
But on Tuesday, immigration officials refused him access to the VIP lounge to have his passport stamped, while the head of state wanted to avoid the terminal open to the public, fearing the reaction of the population.
Having not yet resigned, which he promised to do on Wednesday for a “peaceful transition of powerGotabaya Rajapaksa still enjoys presidential immunity.
The head of state and his wife had spent the night from Monday to Tuesday at a military base near the international airport after missing four flights that could have taken them to the United Arab Emirates.
His younger brother, Basil, who resigned as finance minister in April, also missed his flight to Dubai after a similar run-in with immigration.
He did try to use a chargeable concierge service for business travelers, but airport and immigration staff announced that the quick service would be discontinued with immediate effect.
“Some other passengers protested against Basil boarding their flight“An airport official told AFP. “It was a tense situation, so he left the airport in a hurry“.
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