Sri Lanka’s President has left the country

Rajapaksa and his wife flew out of the country to Maldivian capital of Malé on an AN32 troop transport plane from the Sri Lanka Air Force, the official said. Air traffic control in the Maldives 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. Nasheed told CNN on Monday that he “had not been in touch with Rajapaksas for weeks.”The embattled Sri Lankan president was previously blocked from departing Another attempt was made to get the family on an Etihad flight scheduled to leave Colombo for Abu Dhabi at 9:20 p.m. 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. The Sri Lanka Air Force has denied the claim, describing it as propaganda intended to tarnish the image of the corps and its chief.Forced to resignRajapaksa’s planned resignation on Wednesday — which follows months of protests over the country’s crippling economic crisis — would leave him without presidential immunity and potentially exposed to a raft of legal charges in the country.He has been accused of high-level corruption and economic mismanagement, which ultimately bankrupted the country and triggered its worst financial crisis since independence. He agreed to step down from his office on Saturday, after more than 100,000 people massed outside his residence and called for his resignation. Some of the protesters then broke into the property and splashed around in his swimming pool.Striking images shared on social media showed demonstrators singing protest songs and chanting slogans calling for Rajapaksa to resign. Other photos showed groups of demonstrators setting up barbecue pits to grill and cook food.Reporting contributed by journalist Rukshana Rizwie.