Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has left the country shortly before he was due to formally step down, according to a security official.
Rajapaksa and his wife flew to Malé, in the Maldives, on an AN32 troop transport plane from the Sri Lanka Air Force, the official said. Local air traffic control refused the plane's request to land until an intervention by the Speaker of Maldivian Parliament Majlis and former President, Mohamed Nasheed, according to the official. CNN has reached out to Nasheed for comment.
local, according to the source, however the same problem occurred, as the Rajapaksas refused to join the public immigration queue for the flight. In both instances, the Rajapaksa family was in a nearby airport lounge, waiting for confirmation they could board without queuing among members of the public, the source said. On Tuesday, a video released by a former police officer claimed that Rajapaksa was staying in a private house belonging to a top Air Force Commander.
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