"Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country early on Wednesday, two sources told Reuters, hours before he was due to step down amid widespread protests over his handling of a devastating economic crisis.<br />Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards left aboard a Sri Lankan Air Force plane, an immigration official told Reuters.<br />A government source said he left for the city of Male, the capital of the Maldives. The president would most likely proceed to another Asian country from there, the source said.<br />The immigration official said authorities could not under law prevent a sitting president from leaving the country.<br /><br /> #SriLanka #SrilankaCrisis #Maldives #MahindaRajapaksa #GotabayaRajapaksa #HWNews <br />
