Gotabaya Rajapaksa returns to Sri Lanka following brief visit to Dubai

by Zulfick Farzan 05-01-2023 | 9:47 AM

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa returned to country on Thursday (5) morning following a visit to Dubai.

Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left the country on the 26th of December 2022, and reports suggested that he was heading for the United States of America.

He was accompanied by former First Lady Ayoma Rajapaksa, son Daminda Rajapaksa, daughter-in-law S. D. Rajapaksa, and his grandchild.

Reports claimed that Sri Lanka's ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa applied for restoration of his US citizenship.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the island nation in July 2022 after a huge crowd stormed his official residence following months of demonstrations sparked by an unprecedented economic crisis.

The 73-year-old announced his resignation from Singapore and spent weeks under virtual house arrest at a Bangkok hotel before his return late on September 2nd.

Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was pictured at Dubai’s private ‘Fame Park’ with the owner Saif Ahmad Belhasa and several animals.

Fame Park is an exotic animal farm, owned by Emirati Entrepreneur Saif Ahmad Belhasa.