Sri Lanka arrests ex-president's son over Airbus deal

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's main anti-graft body arrested lawmaker Namal Rajapaksa, the son of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, on Friday (Sep 4) in connection with a corruption probe into a 2013 Airbus aircraft purchase.The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) said the 40-year-old scion of the once-powerful Rajapaksa family "was summoned for questioning over the Airbus transaction"."The MP was arrested afterwards and will be taken before a magistrate," a commission official said.It was not immediately clear what charges Rajapaksa faces. His lawyer, Nishantha Dayananda, confirmed the arrest over the controversial US$2.3 billion deal, which was eventually cancelled by a new government in 2016.CIABOC had questioned the former president himself in May over alleg