Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was allowed to enter Singapore Thursday on a private visit and has not been granted asylum, the city-state said, after the leader arrived from the Maldives.
"It is confirmed that Mr. Rajapaksa has been allowed entry into Singapore on a private visit," Singapore's foreign ministry said in a statement. "He has not asked for asylum and neither has he been granted any asylum. Singapore generally does not grant requests for asylum."
He arrived in Singapore on Thursday after fleeing protests triggered by an economic crisis, with the city-state insisting he was on a private visit and had not been granted asylum.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his wife Ioma and their two bodyguards arrived in Singapore from the Maldives, where they had initially escaped to a day earlier.
The Saudia airline plane carrying them landed at Singapore's Changi Airport at 7:17 pm (1117 GMT), according to AFP journalists on site.
Reporters had descended on Changi after news emerged that the president was heading to the city-state, but by late Thursday he had not been spotted leaving.
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