JanguKamaJangu
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- Feb 7, 2022
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Rais wa Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa ameondoka nchini mapema Jumatano kuelekea kisiwa jirani cha Maldives, maafisa wamesema.
Kiongozi huyo mwenye umri wa miaka 73, mke wake na mlinzi wake ni miongoni mwa abiria wanne waliokuwa ndani ya ndege ya kijeshi ya Sri Lanka aina ya Antonov 32 ambayo iliondoka kwenye uwanja wa ndege wa kimataifa wa Colombo, maafisa wa idara ya uhamiaji wameiambia AFP.
“Hati zao za kusafiria ziligongwa muhuri na wakapanda ndege maalum ya jeshi la anga,” afisa wa idara ya uhamiaji aliyehusika katika mchakato huo amesema.
Haikuthibitishwa mara moja kwamba Rajapaksa amefika Maldives.
Maafisa wa uwanja wa ndege wamesema ndege hiyo ilizuiliwa kwa zaidi ya saa moja kwenye uwanja bila kuweza kupaa kufuatia mkanganyiko juu ya kibali cha kuruhusiwa kutua Maldives.
“Kulikuwa hali ya kutatanisha, lakini mwishowe kila kitu kilikwenda vizuri,” afisa wa uwanja wa ndege amesema, kwa sharti la kutotajwa jina.
Ameongeza kuwa wengi kati ya watu wa karibu na rais hawakusafiri naye ndani ya ndege hiyo.
Awali, Rajapaksa aliahidi kutangaza kujiuzulu kwake leo Jumatano, akisema anataka kuruhusu “utawala wa mpito kwa njia ya amani.”
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Sri Lanka's President leaves the country after mass protests forced him to resign
Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has left the country, according to a high ranking security official, shortly before he was due to formally step down.
Rajapaksa and his wife flew to Malé, in the Maldives, on an AN32 troop transport plane from the Sri Lanka Air Force, the official said.
Local air traffic control 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. CNN has reached out to Nasheed for comment.
The embattled Rajapaksa was previously blocked from departing Sri Lanka at least twice on Monday, after refusing to join a public immigration queue at the Bandaranaike International Airport, a high-ranking military source told CNN.
Aides for Rajapaksa arrived at the airport in Colombo 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 leaving for Dubai at 6:25 p.m. local time, according to the military source.
But immigration officers declined 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 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.
Source: CNN
Kiongozi huyo mwenye umri wa miaka 73, mke wake na mlinzi wake ni miongoni mwa abiria wanne waliokuwa ndani ya ndege ya kijeshi ya Sri Lanka aina ya Antonov 32 ambayo iliondoka kwenye uwanja wa ndege wa kimataifa wa Colombo, maafisa wa idara ya uhamiaji wameiambia AFP.
“Hati zao za kusafiria ziligongwa muhuri na wakapanda ndege maalum ya jeshi la anga,” afisa wa idara ya uhamiaji aliyehusika katika mchakato huo amesema.
Haikuthibitishwa mara moja kwamba Rajapaksa amefika Maldives.
Maafisa wa uwanja wa ndege wamesema ndege hiyo ilizuiliwa kwa zaidi ya saa moja kwenye uwanja bila kuweza kupaa kufuatia mkanganyiko juu ya kibali cha kuruhusiwa kutua Maldives.
“Kulikuwa hali ya kutatanisha, lakini mwishowe kila kitu kilikwenda vizuri,” afisa wa uwanja wa ndege amesema, kwa sharti la kutotajwa jina.
Ameongeza kuwa wengi kati ya watu wa karibu na rais hawakusafiri naye ndani ya ndege hiyo.
Awali, Rajapaksa aliahidi kutangaza kujiuzulu kwake leo Jumatano, akisema anataka kuruhusu “utawala wa mpito kwa njia ya amani.”
---
Sri Lanka's President leaves the country after mass protests forced him to resign
Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has left the country, according to a high ranking security official, shortly before he was due to formally step down.
Rajapaksa and his wife flew to Malé, in the Maldives, on an AN32 troop transport plane from the Sri Lanka Air Force, the official said.
Local air traffic control 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. CNN has reached out to Nasheed for comment.
The embattled Rajapaksa was previously blocked from departing Sri Lanka at least twice on Monday, after refusing to join a public immigration queue at the Bandaranaike International Airport, a high-ranking military source told CNN.
Aides for Rajapaksa arrived at the airport in Colombo 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 leaving for Dubai at 6:25 p.m. local time, according to the military source.
But immigration officers declined 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 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.
Source: CNN
