Sri Lanka’s Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees the country

Sri Lanka's embattled president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has flown out of the country, heading to the neighbouring Maldives, according to local officials.

The 73-year-old leader, his wife and a bodyguard were among four passengers on board an Antonov-32 Sri Lankan military aircraft which took off from Colombo's international airport, immigration officials told Agence France-Presse.

"Their passports were stamped and they boarded the special air force flight," an immigration official involved in the process said. There was no immediate confirmation Rajapaksa had reached the Maldives.

Airport officials said the aircraft was held up for over an hour on the tarmac without being able to take off following confusion over permission to land in the Maldives. "There were some anxious moments, but in the end everything worked out OK," an airport official said. "The aircraft is due to land at the Male international airport."

Rajapaksa, who is due to officially resign on Wednesday after months of demonstrations calling for him to step down, had reportedly tried to escape to Dubai on Monday night.

Officials said immigration staff prevented the president from going to the VIP area of the airport to stamp his passport and he would not go through the ordinary queues for fear of being mobbed by the public.

As a result, Rajapaksa reportedly missed four flights to the United Arab Emirates, and he, his wife and a dozen other family members and close aides spent the night at a nearby military base.

It appears that the president has attempted to follow several avenues of escape in recent days. The Indian government reportedly refused permission for a Sri Lankan military plane carrying the president to land at an Indian civilian airport, while the US embassy refused to grant him a visitor visa, according to US embassy sources who spoke to local media.

Rajapaksa, who lived in the US for years and has a son and grandchild there, gave up his dual US citizenship in order to run for president, which means he is now ineligible for a visitor visa.

While he is still president, Rajapaksa enjoys immunity from arrest. It is believed he sought to go abroad before stepping down to avoid the possibility of being detained. He is accused of overseeing corruption and economic mismanagement that have bankrupted the country and triggered the worst financial crisis on record.

He has also been accused of war crimes, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, during his time as defence minister, when he brought the civil war, fought against the Tamil minority, to a bloody end in 2009. For more than a decade the allegations against him have been prevented from reaching the courts.

The president was not the only member of the family unsuccessfully trying to flee. His younger brother Basil Rajapaksa, who served as finance minister and has also been accused of widespread corruption, was prevented from boarding a flight to the US via Dubai on Tuesday morning after other passengers protested.

Airport staff refused to let him use the fast-track concierge service and stopped him getting on the flight. According to airport officials, as the situation grew tense, Basil Rajapaksa, who has dual US citizenship, retreated.

On Tuesday night sources told the BBC that Basil Rajapaksa has also now left the country with reports that he was on his way to the US.

AFP contributed to this report