Ex-president of Maldives hurt in bomb attack
MALÉ, MALDIVES: A suspected bomb blast injured former Maldives president and current parliament speaker Mohamed Nasheed on Thursday and he has been rushed to hospital, officials and residents said.
The explosion went off as Nasheed, 53, was getting into his car in the capital city of Male, an official from his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) told AFP over telephone.
“It looks like some sort of an improvised explosive device, possibly rigged up to a parked motorcycle,” the official said, adding that an investigation was underway. Residents in Male said the blast was heard across the capital.
In a tweet, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said, “Speaker of Parliament President Mohamed Nasheed is currently receiving treatment at ADK Hospital in Malé for injuries sustained following an explosion outside his residence tonight. We are treating this matter with utmost seriousness and an investigation is currently underway.”
A source in Maldives told HT that Nasheed has suffered “superficial wounds that required stitches” and there were “no internal injuries”. The former Maldives president “should be okay”, the source added.
At least one of his bodyguards
was also rushed to hospital, AFP reported.
Nasheed became parliament speaker, the Indian Ocean nation’s second most powerful position after president, following his party’s landslide victory in elections in April 2019.
He had become the country’s first democratically elected president after winning the first multi-party elections back in 2008.
India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar expressed concern over the attack. “Deeply concerned at the attack on Speaker @MohamedNasheed. Wish him a speedy recovery. Know that he will never be intimidated,” he tweeted.