Gotabaya Rajapaksa: ousted former president returns to Sri Lanka

Rajapaksa touched down in Colombo seven weeks after he fled the extraordinary protests triggered by an economic meltdown that many lay at his feet

Sri Lanka's former president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country in July after tens of thousands of protesters stormed his home and office in a display of anger over the country's economic crisis, has returned to the country after seven weeks.

Rajapaksa flew into Colombo's Bandaranaike international airport early on Saturday from Bangkok via Singapore. After being welcomed by lawmakers in his party, Rajapaksa left the airport in a motorcade heavily guarded by armed soldiers.