Outgoing Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa landed in Singapore on Thursday after fleeing mass protests over his country's economic meltdown, as troops patrolled the commercial capital Colombo to enforce a curfew.
Rajapaksa, who fled to the Maldives on Wednesday to escape a popular uprising over his family's role in a crippling economic crisis, headed on to Singapore on a Saudi Arabian airline flight, according to a person familiar with the situation.
A passenger on the flight, who declined to be named, told Reuters that Rajapaksa was met by a group of security guards and was seen leaving the airport VIP area in a convoy of black vehicles, reports Reuters.
Airline staff on the flight told Reuters the president, dressed in black, flew business class with his wife and two bodyguards, describing him as "quiet" and "friendly".
Singapore's foreign ministry said Rajapaksa had entered the country on a private visit, and had not sought or been granted asylum.
Rajapaksa has yet to resign despite promising to do so by Wednesday, which has stirred renewed uncertainty in crisis-ridden Sri Lanka.
His decision on Wednesday to make his ally Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe the acting president triggered more protests, with demonstrators storming parliament and the premier's office demanding that he quit too.
Protests against the economic crisis have simmered for months and came to a head last weekend when hundreds of thousands of people took over government buildings in Colombo, blaming the powerful Rajapaksa family and allies for runaway inflation, shortages of basic goods, and corruption.
Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards fled the country on an air force plane early on Wednesday and headed to the Maldives.
