Local air traffic control refused the plane’s request to land until the intervention of the speaker of the Maldivian Majlis parliament and former president Mohamed Nasheed, according to the official. CNN has reached out to Nasheed for comment. The embattled Rajapaksa was previously barred from leaving Sri Lanka at least twice on Monday after refusing to join a public immigration queue at Bandaranaike International Airport, a senior military source told CNN. Rajapaksa’s aides arrived at Colombo airport on Monday with 15 passports belonging to the president and members of his family — including First Lady Ioma Rajapaksa — who had booked seats on a Sri Lankan Airlines flight departing for Dubai on the 6 :25 p.m. local time, according to the military source. But immigration officers refused to process the passports given to them by presidential aides, as Rajapaksa and his family were not physically present for cross-checks. Eventually, the flight departed without the president and his family on board, the source added. Another attempt was made to get the family on an Etihad flight scheduled to depart Colombo for Abu Dhabi at 21:20 local time, the source said, but the same problem occurred as the Rajapaksas refused to join the public immigration queue for the flight. . On both occasions, the Rajapaksa family was in a nearby airport lounge, waiting for confirmation that 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 owned by a top Air Force commander. The Sri Lankan Air Force denied the claim, calling it propaganda aimed at tarnishing the image of the corps and its commander.
He was forced to resign
Rajapaksa’s planned resignation on Wednesday — which follows months of protests over the country’s crippling economic crisis — will leave him without presidential immunity and potentially exposed to a range of legal charges in the country. He was accused of high-level corruption and financial mismanagement, which eventually bankrupted the country and triggered its worst economic crisis since independence. He agreed to resign from his office on Saturday after more than 100,000 people gathered outside his residence to demand his resignation. Some of the protesters then broke into the property and poured into his pool. Dramatic images shared on social media show protesters singing protest songs and shouting slogans calling for Rajapaksa to step down. Other photos showed groups of protesters setting up barbecue pits to grill and cook food. Reporting was contributed by reporter Rukshana Rizwie.
