Thread by @AFP

Sri Lankans are waiting for a formal announcement confirming their president has resigned after he fled to Singapore to escape anti-government protests triggered by his country's dire economic crisis

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#BREAKING Sri Lanka president's resignation accepted: parliamentary speaker

#UPDATE Sri Lanka's parliamentary speaker says President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation has been accepted after the leader fled the country earlier this week.

"Gotabaya has legally resigned" with effect from Thursday, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana told reporters

The brothers Rajapaksa.

#AFPGraphics factfile on Sri Lanka's former president and his brothers from the politically powerful Rajapaksa family

VIDEO: After nearly 100 days of protests, a small crowd celebrates the resignation of Sri Lanka's president.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa emailed his resignation from a safe haven in Singapore after fleeing the country to escape public wrath

#BREAKING Sri Lankan parliament to elect new president on July 20: official

#BREAKING Ranil Wickremesinghe sworn in as Sri Lanka's acting president: office

Sri Lankans queue at pumps for days with no promise of petrol.

No one wants to yield their spot after waiting for so long, even as unrest sparked by Sri Lanka's painful financial crisis has convulsed nearby streets

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#UPDATE The resignation of Sri Lanka's president has been accepted, the crisis-hit country's parliamentary speaker announces.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the first Sri Lankan head of state to resign since it adopted an executive presidency in 1978

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Map of Colombo locating key buildings in the Sri Lankan capital, at the centre of anti-government protests in the past week.
#AFPgraphics @AFP

A lifetime's ambition was fulfilled today when Sri Lanka's 6x prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was finally sworn in as president.
He is only head of state in an acting capacity after Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned after fleeing to Singapore.
Story: u.afp.com/wrDj