Sri Lanka’s ousted president returns home after fleeing

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI, ERANGA JAYAWARDENA and KRUTIKA PATHI
Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has returned to the country after he fled in July after tens of thousands of protesters stormed his home and office in a display of anger over the country’s economic crisis. Rajapaksa flew into Colombo’s international airport around midnight Friday from Bangkok via Singapore. On July 13, the ousted leader, his wife and two bodyguards left aboard an air force plane for the Maldives, before traveling to Singapore from where he officially resigned. He flew to Thailand two weeks later. Lawmakers from Rajapaksa’s party welcomed him with flower garlands. He later reached a government-owned house allocated to him as a former president at the center of the capital, Colombo.