Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Sunday started a 3-day tour to the Maldivian Islands amidst an internal political rift.

The Sri Lankan President is expected to hold talks with his Maldivian counterpart, Abdul Gayoom, the Colombo foreign ministry said.

Rajapakse on Friday sacked Anura Bandaranaike, Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Suriyarachchi from ministerial positions, in a controversial move.

Addressing his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the dominant party of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) coalition, here Saturday, the Sri Lankan President said that the three sacked ministers had plotted to destabilize his government.

The SLFP's executive committee had approved the removal of three ministers.

Source: Xinhua