SL Prez flees hours before he was due to step down

Colombo, July 13 Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled the country on a military jet, hours before he was due to step down, media reported on Wednesday.
According to BBC, he arrived in the capital of the Maldives, Male, at around 3 am (local time).
He had fled the President’s House shortly after thousands of protesters stormed into his residence on July 9.
The President had signed his resignation letter and the Speaker of the Parliament was due to announce it on Wednesday.
On Tuesday evening, thousands of people had already amassed at Galle Face Green, the main protest site in the capital city, Colombo, awaiting President’s resignation.
As news of the president’s departure filtered through, noisy celebrations broke out among demonstrators at the park, BBC reported.
His brother and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, who was earlier stopped by officials at the Bandaranaike International Airport from fleeing the country, has also left and is said to be heading to the US, BBC quoted sources as saying.
The Sri Lankans had blamed the President’s administration for the country’s worst economic crisis.