Sri Lanka's embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at noon on Thursday left Maldives for Singapore after fleeing his country amid an economic crisis, sources said.
Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror said Gotabaya, his wife Loma Rajapaksa and two bodyguards have departed to Singapore on a private jet.
It was reported that they had first planned their departure to Singapore on Singapore Airlines which fell through due to security reasons.
Foreign medias have also reported that Gotabaya has been protected by Singapore on a Sri Lankan military aircraft.
Gotabaya arrived in Maldives after he was denied travel from other countries. Sri Lankan airport officials did not cooperate with him when he tried to travel to Dubai on Tuesday, when neither the United States and India allowed him to arrive.
Protests were also held near the Alimas Carnival area in Male’ yesterday by Sri Lankan citizens in the country, over Gotabaya's arrival in Maldives. Many Maldivians also expressed their displeasure over the move.
Protesters voiced that it is wrong for Maldives to be involved in the internal political unrest of Sri Lanka. Maldives’ government has not made any comments on the matter so far.
According to some reports, Gotabaya was staying in Maldives at Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi Resort. However, other sources say that he stayed at the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) training center in Girifushi, under their protection.
Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans came out against the president as the economic situation in Sri Lanka deteriorated due to the governments mismanagement landing them with more than $51 billion in foreign debt.
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