Maldives: Ex-prez ‘critical’, cops call attack ‘act of terror’

MALÉ, MALDIVES: Police in Maldives said on Friday an explosion that wounded former president Mohamed Nasheed and four others, including a British national, was an act of terrorism and they are attempting to identify four possible suspects. Australian police said they are ready to assist the probe.

Nasheed, 53, was wounded in the blast outside his home in Male on Thursday night as he was about to get into his car, police said. He was in critical condition in an ICU after lifesaving surgeries to his head, chest, abdomen and limbs, ADK Hospital said on Friday.

Nasheed has been an outspoken critic of religious extremism in the predominantly Sunni Muslim nation, where preaching and practising other faiths are banned by law.

Police commissioner Mohamed Hameed said police are treating the blast as an act of terrorism against the former president. Two of Nasheed’s bodyguards and two apparent bystanders, including a British citizen, were also wounded, he said. Police have not detected any military-grade components in the explosives used, Hameed said. Photos circulated on social media showed a ripped-up motorcycle at the scene of the explosion.

Nasheed is the current parliament speaker and was the first democratically elected president of the Indian Ocean archipelago, serving from 2008 to 2012.

AP Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed