Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. File photoMOSCOW, July 12Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who previously signed a letter of resignation from July 13 amid protests, flew out of the country, Agence France-Presse reports, citing sources in the migration service.According to Rajapaksa, 73, his wife and a bodyguard were among the four passengers on board the Antonov An-32, the sources said. According to the agency, the plane headed for the Maldives. Later, a representative of the airport in Male told the agency that the plane with Rajapaksa on board landed in the Maldives. The president and his companions in the Maldives were accompanied by police officers. Last Saturday, participants in a months-long mass protest against the government of President Gotabai Rajapaksa, held in Colombo, seized the residences of the president and prime minister. President Rajapaksa announced his resignation effective 13 July. The country's parliament will elect a new president on July 20, after which an interim government will be appointed, which will work until the next general election. Sri Lanka announces presidential election date
