VICTORIA, Seychelles — Former Madagascar President Didier Ratsiraka fled to Seychelles with his family and top officials on Friday, signaling the apparent end to more than six months of turmoil on Madagascar.
A Seychelles government car with a police escort was seen driving Ratsiraka to a beach hotel Friday afternoon. An airport worker said Ratsiraka's plane had 25 passengers on board, including bodyguards.
The Seychelles' Ministry of Foreign Affairs would not say if Ratsiraka had asked for asylum there.
Ratsiraka's departure came as forces loyal to President Marc Ravalomanana moved in on Ratsiraka's stronghold of Toamasina, a port town on the eastern coast of the country off the east coast of Africa.
Ratsiraka left the airport in Toamasina on an Antonov plane belonging to a company owned by his son, Xavier, airport sources said. It was seen landing in Victoria, Seychelles, several hours later.
The plane carrying Ratsiraka, his wife, son and two brothers, was followed by two more planes carrying his top supporters, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. There was no immediate word on where those aircraft went.
Madagascar had been plunged into turmoil after results were announced for Dec. 16 presidential elections that would have forced Ravalomanana, then the opposition leader, into a runoff with Ratsiraka. Ravalomanana said he won the election outright and took control of the capital, Antananarivo, while Ratsiraka moved his government to Toamasina, and seized control of much of the nation's coastline.
A court-supervised recount in May showed Ravalomanana won the poll, and he was sworn in as president. Ratsiraka refused to recognize the recount and pledged to continue fighting.
In recent weeks, however, Ravalomanana has won a series of key victories. His troops captured several large ports, alleviating a siege Ratsiraka had placed on Antananarivo, a Ravalomanana stronghold.
In the past few days, many nations, including the United States, Germany and France, began normalizing relations with Ravalomanana's government, freeing up crucial funds frozen abroad and signing new aid agreements.
Ravalomanana's officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were frustrated at Ratsiraka's departure because they had hoped to capture him and put him on trial for human rights abuses.
Meanwhile, Ravalomanana's troops headed Friday toward the barricade at Brickaville, a military outpost outside of Toamasina. The barricade was the only one remaining from a network that had maintained the siege on the capital.
The key province of Diego Suarez fell to Ravalomanana's troops Wednesday. As his soldiers entered the provincial capital in force Thursday, thousands of residents cheered. They said they had been trapped in their houses for almost two weeks in fear of Ratsiraka militias that were roaming the streets.
Dozens of people have died in political violence since the election on this poor Indian Ocean island off the coast of Mozambique, civil rights officials say.