(CNN) Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has tendered his resignation in a letter sent by email to parliamentary speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardenena, according to an announcement from the speaker's office Thursday.
Rajapaksa landed in Singapore on a flight from Maldives earlier after fleeing his country in the wake of anti-government protests.
Abeywardenena has received an email with Rajapaksa's resignation, the speaker's office confirmed to CNN Thursday, but added that "we cannot accept such an email at face value.".
According to a high-ranking government source the letter was emailed after Rajapaksa arrived in Singapore.
Singapore generally does not grant requests for asylum," the Singapore Foreign Ministry statement read.
A Saudia airline Boeing 787 Dreamliner believed to be carrying Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa arrives at Singapore's Changi Airport on July 14.
The Sri Lankan police force said one police officer had been seriously injured during the protests and was receiving treatment in hospital. »