News
Gota leaves Singapore after fleeing protesters at home
(AFP) Former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday left Singapore where he had taken refuge following his escape from protesters at home, after he was given a visa only for about a month in the city-state.Rajapaksa flew into Singapore from the Maldives on July 14 after fleeing a deepening economic crisis and widespread protests in Sri Lanka. He tendered his resignation shortly after his arrival.Sri Lankans arriving in Singapore normally receive a 30-day visa, but authorities said they had initially given Rajapaksa only two weeks and later extended the visa by another two weeks.
“The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) confirms that Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa left Singapore on 11 August,” Singapore’s immigration office said in reply to an AFP query.
It did not say where the former leader was headed but the Thai foreign ministry, as well as a source in Colombo, said Wednesday he was seeking a new safe haven in Thailand.Rajapaksa fled his nation after tens of thousands of protesters overran his official residence last month angry about acute shortages of food, fuel and medicine endured by Sri Lanka’s 22 million people since late last year.An international human rights group last month formally asked Singapore to indict Rajapaksa for crimes against humanity during his country’s decades-long civil war that ended in 2009.
The South Africa-based International Truth and Justice Project said it had urged Singapore to exercise universal jurisdiction to arrest the former president for grave breaches of international humanitarian law.Rajapaksa helmed Sri Lanka’s defence ministry while his brother Mahinda was president when the country’s brutal Tamil separatist conflict came to a bloody end.Singapore’s Attorney-General’s Chambers confirmed it had received a complaint from the rights group without giving details.
“His Singapore visa runs out on Thursday,” a close associate of Rajapaksa told AFP in Colombo on Wednesday.
“He had applied for an extension, but it had not come through as of Wednesday morning.”
The source said Rajapaksa now planned to go to Thailand for a short stay but return to Singapore.The Thai foreign ministry confirmed it had received a request from Colombo for the 73-year-old deposed leader to visit and an assurance that he would not seek political asylum.
“The Thai side received a request for the former president to enter Thailand from the current government of Sri Lanka,” ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said in a statement.
“The stay is temporary in nature with the aim of onward travel. No political asylum has been sought.”
The Rajapaksa confidant told AFP that the former leader was keen to return home as protests against his administration had fizzled out, but his successor Ranil Wickremesinghe had advised him against an early return.Singapore officials had said he was on a private visit to the city-state and the foreign minister stressed that he was not given any special privileges.
“In general, the Singapore government does not accord privileges, immunity and hospitality to former heads of state or heads of government,” Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said in a written reply to a question in parliament last week.
“Consequently, former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa was not accorded any privileges, immunity or hospitality.”
The National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) on Friday said the largest groundwater source discovered in Sri Lanka so far had been identified during tube-well drilling near the Pitabeddara Police Station.
Indrajith Gamage, geologist in charge of the Southern Province, said the source recorded a continuous flow of about 10,000 litres (10 cubic metres) per minute, marking the first instance in the country where a groundwater source of that magnitude had been found.
He noted that the previous largest groundwater source was discovered in the Madhu area, which recorded a flow of about 7,000 litres per minute.
According to the NWSDB, the tube well was drilled following geological studies of rock layers and the identification of underground water through fractures in rock strata using specialised technical instruments.
The Board said steps would be taken to distribute water from the newly discovered source to residents facing shortages in Pitabeddara, Morawaka and surrounding areas.
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has formally handed over its historical records to the National Archives Department, entrusting over a century of the nation’s commercial history to the country’s official custodians of heritage.
The archive, spanning from the CCC’s founding in 1839 to 1973, includes correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, ledgers, and publications that chronicle the development of trade, enterprise, and industry in Sri Lanka. Together, the records provide a rare and detailed account of the island’s economic evolution and the role of its business community in shaping national progress.
The Ministry of Defence said on Friday (13) that arrangements had been made to repatriate to Iran the bodies of 84 sailors who died aboard the IRIS Dena, which sank in the southern seas off Sri Lanka.
A special aircraft carrying the bodies departed from Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport on Friday, the Ministry said, adding that the repatriation was carried out in coordination with the Embassy of Iran in Sri Lanka.
The remains had been kept in two mobile cold-storage units at the Galle National Hospital before being transported to Mattala by lorry following a court order. Forty-five bodies were moved in the morning, while the remaining 39 were transported later in the day.
Earlier this month, the Iranian naval vessel suffered an incident about 40 nautical miles off Port of Galle while carrying around 180 personnel. Thirty-five rescued sailors were admitted to the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital, while 84 bodies were subsequently recovered.
Following the incident, Pete Hegseth confirmed that the Iranian vessel had been sunk in international waters by a torpedo fired from a submarine of the United States Navy.
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