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Sri Lanka president hits airport standoff in escape attempt
Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the presidential palace in Colombo under naval protection on Saturday, shortly before tens of thousands of protesters overran the compound.
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People crowd to visit Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's official residence in Colombo on July 11, 2022, after it was overrun by anti-government protestors. Millions of rupees in cash left behind by Sri Lanka's president when he fled his official residence was handed over to a court on July 11 after being turned in by protestors, police said as a succession battle got under way.
(AFP/Arun Sankar)
S
ri Lanka's embattled president was flown to an airbase near the main international airport Monday, officials said, raising speculation he will escape into exile abroad.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the presidential palace in Colombo under naval protection on Saturday, shortly before tens of thousands of protesters overran the compound.
Hours later, the parliamentary speaker announced Rajapaksa would resign on Wednesday to allow a "peaceful transition of power".
The 73-year-old leader had taken refuge at a navy facility in the island's northeast, a top defence official said, adding that he was brought to the Katunayake airbase adjoining the country's main international airport.
"He and his entourage were flown back to Colombo in two Bell 412 choppers," the official added.
There was no official word from the president's office about his whereabouts, and several local media reports speculated he was set to leave for Dubai later Monday.
But four commercial flights subsequently took off for Middle Eastern destinations without him, airport officials said.
