Rajapaksa said to be seeking longer-term refuge, asylum
Observers say ex-president likely left Sri Lanka before resigning from office to avoid possibility of arrest
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When Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa landed in Singapore on Thursday evening, he had a valid Sri Lankan passport, and was still president of the country he had fled.
Singapore's decision to allow him entry that day, therefore, did not significantly deviate from its established policy, said retired Singapore diplomat Bilahari Kausikan.