LeT planning attacks in India, seeking links in Maldives

Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is making concerted efforts to carry out attacks in the country and to develop links in Maldives and other neighbours, the government said on Tuesday.

"Available inputs indicate that Pakistan-based terrorist groups primarily the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are making concerted efforts to organise terrorist attacks in various parts of the country, inter-alia, including iconic institutions, prominent industrial installations and tourist locations among others," minister of state for home affairs Ajay Maken told Lok Sabha today in a written reply.

The minister said some of the prominent groups which pose a serious threat include LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizbul-Mujahideen (HM), Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami (HuJI), Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), Al Badr, Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), Khalistan Commando force, International Sikh Youth federation (ISYF), United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and Communist party of India (Maoist).

"There is also another organisation, the Indian Mujahideen," the minister said.

Maken said, "The government continues to be alert to these threats and re-calibrates its measures to combat terrorism by way of reviewing threat perception and a number of important decisions and measures have been taken.

"Government has constituted National Investigation Agency (NIA).The Multi-Agency centre has been strengthened and reorganised to enable it to function on 24x7 basis for real time collection and sharing of intelligence with other intelligence and security agencies," he said.

In reply to another question, Maken said, "available input indicated that Lashkar-e-Taiba endeavours to develop links in India's neighbouring countries including the Maldives.

"India and Maldives continue to work closely in strengthening bilateral security cooperation. Our security concerns are conveyed through bilateral channels or mechanisms, with the concerned authorities," he said.

Government also denied any proposal to create the post of National Intelligence Coordinator to strengthen intelligence system.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Maldives national taken into custody in India

A Maldives national, suspected of terror links, was taken into custody by officials of Central Intelligence here, official sources said today.

After an input received from the Intelligence Bureau, the accused, Abdul Haleem, was taken into custody last night from a lodge in the city for questioning, they said.

According to sources, he was staying here since June last year.

The Maldives Consulate has been informed of the custody, the sources said.

Source: http://www.ptinews.com

Maldives concerned over piracy reports

Foreign Minister Dr. Ahmed Shaheed has expressed concern over media reports of piracy activities in the Maldives territorial waters.

The Minister’s comment follows Indian media reports that pirates had been active in the Maldivian seas, Miadhu reported.

Dr. Ahmed Shaheed has said that the Maldives government is closely monitoring the developments off the coast of Somalia, which had hijacked many Indian vessels and 100 Indian nationals last week.

The Maldives prefers to work closely with its strategic partners and neighbours to deal with the imminent threat to Maldives, Dr. Shaheed was quoted as saying.

Source: http://www.asiantribune.com

Nine Maldives jihadists held in Pakistan

Nine Maldives-based jihadists have been held in Pakistan’s troubled Waziristan province — sparking renewed concern about the use of the Indian Ocean islands as staging-posts for attacks against India’s western coast.

Maldives Minister of Defence and National Security Ameen Faisal told Malé-based journalists that the nine men had been arrested in the troubled Waziristan region of north-western Pakistan, close to the Afghanistan border.

Large swathes of lawless Waziristan are controlled by Taliban insurgents, while Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda is also known to maintain a significant presence in the region.

Eight of the men were identified as Yoosuf Izadhy, 38, of Nicosia in the Malé atoll; Ahmed Ashraf, 31, of Vaikaradhoo; Abdullah Sameer, 38, of Lhaimagu; Ali Faiz, 31, of Vaikaradhoo; Moosa Yoosuf, 30, of Kalhaidhoo; Yoosuf Mohammed, 52, also of Kalhaidhoo; Mohammad Zuhree, 28, of Dhaandhoo; Ali Shafeeq, 25, of Kandholhudhoo and Arif Ahmed, whose personal details have not been released.

Pakistani authorities are reported to have held six of the men in raids on March 11, and six more men on March 12. No details were made available, though, on which jihadist group the men were involved with, and who had arranged for their recruitment in the Maldives.

Malé-based newspaper Minivan News reported that at least one of the men had earlier been held on suspicion of having participated in the September 2007 bombing of Malé’s Sultan Park, which left 12 tourists injured. However, Shafeeq was later cleared of all charges and released.

Growing concern

Concerns about the use of the Maldives by Islamist terror groups has been mounting since 2006, when evidence emerged that Dhaka-based Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Faisal Haroon had explored plans to use the islands as a logistical base.

In the wake of the Sultan Park bombing, 10 key suspects escaped to Pakistan, where they were thought to be sheltered by elements linked to the Lashkar. Maldives authorities are now preparing the trial of one of the fugitive suspects, who was arrested on his return to Malé in January. Three who failed to secure their escape were sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2007.

Growing numbers of Maldives nationals have been drawn to Pakistan-based Islamist groups in recent years. Many were recruited by the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s charitable front, the Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq, which carried out extensive relief operations in the southern atolls after the 2005 tsunami.

For example, Mohammed Faseehu, from the Laam atoll island of Dhanbidhoo, and Shifahu Abdul Wahid, of Dhiffushi island in Kaaf atoll, were reported killed in Jammu and Kashmir in January 2007. Both men had travelled to Pakistan to study at the Jamia Salafiyya. Speaking to journalists last month, Maldives Human Rights Commission president Ahmed said several similar complaints about the death of Maldives nationals had been received.

Investigators also found Ali Shameem and Abdul Latheef Ibrahim, held in 2007 for their role in the Sultan Park bombing, had also been planning to join the jihad in Jammu and Kashmir. Another Maldives national, Ibrahim Asif, was arrested in Kerala in April 2005, after attempting to source weapons from Thiruvananthapuram. And, in 2006, Male residents Ali Jaleel, Fatimah Nasreen, and Aishath Raushan were arrested for preparing to go to Pakistan to receive jihad training.

During his December 2008 visit to New Delhi, Maldives President Mohammad Nasheed had expressed concern about security in the Indian Ocean.

“You have sealed our borders [with Pakistan]”, he said, “but you have pushed terrorists into the Indian Ocean.” President Nasheed referred to the dangers of organised crime operations in the high seas, and warned that “pirates could be recruited into terrorist cells.”

President’s appeal

Noting that upwards of 40 Maldives nationals were known to be studying in Pakistani seminaries controlled by jihadist groups, President Nasheed also called for greater Indian educational assistance.

Source: hinduonnet.com

Don't worry, no Al Qaeda in Maldives: Minister

Iraq Al Qaeda Link

The Maldives is free from the 'virus of terrorist brands like Al Qaeda' and it is grateful to India for sending its intelligence agencies to probe the first ever terror attack that shook the atoll nation two months ago, says Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid.

'The attack was a major shock to the Maldives and to the international community. We are committed to the Maldivian way of life,' Shahid, who was here recently on his first visit to India as foreign minister, told IANS.

'We are encouraged by the international community's response (after the attack). We welcome India's strong statement condemning the attack. I met Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New York when the attack occurred,' he said.

Shahid made the comments in the context of the Sep 29 bombings at Sultan Park in Male that shattered the calm of the paradise-like Maldives, a prized destination for wealthy Western and Japanese tourists.

'We carried out investigations with the help of Indian and American intelligence agencies. No connections with well-known terror brands have come up. We don't want to rule out the involvement of foreign elements,' he said, when asked if he suspected the involvement of Al Qaeda and its affiliates in the bombings.

'Maldives has had a moderate Islamic philosophy. We are more vigilant now,' he said.

'Indian and Maldivian intelligence and defence forces cooperate in more ways than one,' the foreign minister said.

'Whenever there has been a crisis, India has been a friend. The Maldives and India hold an annual joint defence exercise called Dosti,' he said.

Then Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi sent Indian troops to the Maldives in November 1988 to foil an attempt by Sri Lankan Tamil militants to oust President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Shahid said the Maldivian government had set up a committee to probe the proliferation of extremism in South Asia and its recommendations were being implemented.

'The global village is afflicted with a virus which is spreading. Terrorists who want to intimidate civilised society will always want to find a way out. But we are ready to rebuff any such attacks.'

Shahid conjured up a positive picture of the democratic reforms in his country and said this will pave the way for multi-party elections in November 2008.

Source: Earth Time

Maldives police hunt for second bomb

Maldivian authorities are searching for a second bomb believed to have been part of a plot by Islamic extremists to attack the country's vital tourism industry, police said Thursday.

Militants had planned to set off a second bomb almost simultaneously with a first blast which hurt 12 foreign tourists on 29 September in the capital Male, police said.

"We are acting on an intelligence tip off after we arrested eight more suspects in connection with the Sultan Park bomb," assistant police commissioner Abdullah Riyaz told AFP by telephone from Male.

"We don't know the whereabouts of the bomb, but we are looking for it very hard," Riyaz said.

The Maldives has been on high alert since Islamic militants struck in a religiously motivated attack on the tourism industry, which accounts for a third of the country's economy.

President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who has ruled since 1978, has ordered a crackdown on religious dissent, banning women from wearing the full veil and foreign preachers as well as closing down unlicensed Muslim prayer groups.

Gayoom also ordered the strict enforcement of the Religious Unity Act which forbids prayer in non-government mosques.

On Tuesday, the government charged three Maldivians linked to the bombing under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. They were accused of "causing bodily harm, with the intention of creating fear or terror," and for making and using explosive substances, Riyaz said.

"State prosecutor Hussain Shameen also asked court for a maximum 15-year jail sentence," he said adding that 13 other Maldivian nationals will be charged under the same act in relation to the blast.

Riyaz said three were in detention, but the remainder on the run and believed to be in Pakistan.

Police are also investigating possible links with foreign militant groups after the Indian press reports highlighted that some of the suspects had links to a Kashmiri separatist group.

Source: AFP

Three men on terror charges over Maldives bombing

Three men in the Maldives were charged under the state's terrorism act on Tuesday in connection with a bomb attack which wounded 12 tourists in September, officials said.

State prosecutor Hussain Shameen said he would seek the maximum 15-year jail sentence in the first such case in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Ahmed Naseer and Moosa Inas stand accused of planting the bomb, which detonated in the capital Male's Sultan Park as a tour group of mainly Chinese nationals entered the garden. Police say the third man, Mohamed Sobah, helped make the bomb.

Inas, Naseer and Sobah are charged under the Maldives Prevention of Terrorism Act with "causing bodily harm, with the intention of creating fear or terror," and the production and use of explosive substances.

Thirteen other Maldivian nationals will be charged under the same act in relation to the blast, according to the Attorney-General's Office. Three are in detention, but police say the remainder are on the run in Pakistan. (Reporting by Ajay Makan; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Source: Reuters

Maldives seek Interpol help to arrest terror suspects

The Maldives is seeking Interpol's help to arrest 10 of its nationals, wanted in connection with a bomb blast in the capital Male, who have fled to Pakistan, police said.

The calm of the paradise holiday destination was shattered in September when Islamic radicals set off a home-made bomb, wounding 12 foreign tourists.

Police arrested six of 16 Maldivians believed to be linked to the attack, but said another 10 escaped to Pakistan.

"The Attorney General's office has given us the court order and we have now asked Interpol to issue a red notice," Maldives police spokesman Ahmed Shiyam told AFP in Colombo by telephone.

A red notice allows an arrest warrant to be circulated worldwide, with the intent that the person will be extradited, according to Interpol's website.

Shiyam did not say what charges the suspects might face.

The September 29 bombing occurred outside Sultan Park in Male, wounding a British honeymoon couple, two Japanese and eight Chinese on a city tour.

The two prime suspects, Abdul Latheef Ibrahim and Ali Shameem, fled the Maldives with the help of an immigration officer who is now in custody, Assistant Commissioner of Police Abdullah Riyaz said.

Police in the Muslim nation said those detained received training in assembling bombs at Pakistani madrassas, or religious schools.

President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom said the blast was the first terrorist attack in the Indian Ocean island chain, and has unveiled tough measures to combat Islamic extremism and to protect its vital upmarket tourism industry.

Gayoom, who has ruled the Maldives with an iron fist since 1978, banned fundamentalists from conducting religious services and foreign clerics from entering the country without permission.

Home to about 300,000 Sunni Muslims, the Maldives is a chain of 1,192 coral islands scattered across 850 kilometres (550 miles).

About 600,000 tourists visit the country each year. Tourism and a successful tuna fishing industry has pushed per capita incomes to nearly 2,700 dollars, making the Maldivians the richest country in South Asia.

Source: AFP

Maldives says 10 bomb suspects now in Pakistan

Maldives police said on Thursday 10 suspects in a September bomb attack that wounded 12 foreign tourists were on the run in Pakistan and they were seeking Interpol assistance to arrest the fugitives.

The 10 men planned the bombing and flew to Pakistan in the weeks preceding the September 29 attack near a mosque in the Maldives' capital Male, police said.

"They masterminded the bombing and then fled to Pakistan," a police spokesman said.

Eleven suspects are in custody on the Indian Ocean islands in connection with the attack which struck tourists at the entrance to the popular Sultan Park.

Three of the men have confessed to police that they planted the device to "target, attack and injure non-Muslims, to fulfil jihad", the spokesman said.

Two of the suspects in Pakistan, Ali Shameem and Abdul Latheef Ibrahim, both Maldives nationals, were on a travel blacklist after family members voiced concerns about their intention to travel to Pakistan to train for militant attacks.

They slipped out of the country with the assistance of an immigration officer who has been arrested, police said.

"Several of the fugitives, as well as some of the suspects detained in the Maldives, received training in bomb making in Pakistani madrasas (Islamic schools)," the police spokesman said.

The Maldives has practised a moderate form of Islam uninterrupted for seven centuries. But fears of extremism have grown in recent years.

Extradition orders have been prepared and Pakistani police have been alerted through Interpol, the spokesman said. At home, police have asked the state to prosecute 16 men, including one minor. Some of those on the run may face trial in absentia.

The chain of over a thousand islands straddling the Equator is home to more than 80 upmarket resorts, attracting more than 500,000 tourists last year.

The tourism industry accounts for two thirds of GDP by some estimates, and is the primary source of foreign currency.

The Maldives government banned travel to Pakistan for study in madrasas over a decade ago, and earlier this year sent its first counter-terror officers to Singapore for training.

In the aftermath of the blast, which injured two Britons, two Japanese and eight Chinese, more than 60 men were rounded up from a single island, a third of the adult male population, after a pitched battle outside a mosque.

President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, in power since 1978, has announced plans to ban the full veil and prevent foreign preachers entering the country. The proposals have been fiercely criticised by religious scholars and an increasingly popular conservative Islamic political party.

Source: Reuters

Religious tension hits Maldive Islands, a hot spot for tycoons, superstars

While vacationing tycoons and bikini-clad Hollywood superstars blissfully sipped drinks on the Maldives' secluded white beaches, an Islamic revolution fueled by preachers trained in Pakistan and the Middle East was brewing.

On Sept. 29, the two faces of the Maldives collided when a homemade bomb exploded in a park in the capital, Male, wounding 12 tourists, threatening the critical resort industry and sending the clear message that even this remote corner of paradise is not immune to terrorism.

The attack, and a bloody confrontation days later between police and masked Islamic extremists armed with harpoons, stunned this Indian Ocean nation and threatened its careful effort to balance its traditionally moderate Islamic heritage with liberal Western values.

The government reacted swiftly to crush the fundamentalist movement that had risen amid the palm trees and crystal blue waters of its 1,190 coral islands. Authorities banned the veil, arrested scores of suspected extremists, sealed underground mosques and promised a crackdown on radical preachers.

"We are not taking chances," Information Minister Mohamed Nasheed said.

So far, the violence has not frightened off the tourists, who account for one-third of the economy, he said. But "if there is another attack, then we just close tourism here. And we can't afford that," he said.

By far the most prosperous country in south Asia, with a per capita annual income of $2,700, the republic had seemed safe from the worldwide rise of Islamic militancy. Its longtime ruler, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, had harnessed his nation's major natural resource — hundreds of small, deserted islands — to create remote, upscale resorts that fueled explosive economic growth.

But the country also suffered deep divisions.

While many high school graduates went to Europe or Australia for a liberal education, others studied religion at extremist institutions in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and spread their radical beliefs across the islands, said Rohan Gunaratna, a Singapore-based terrorism expert hired by the government. He estimated that several thousand of the country's 300,000 people now follow these clerics.

"They are preaching a deviant form of Islam," he said.

These once marginal preachers have found a new wave of adherents in recent years. The global outburst of Islamic anger after the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the spread of Internet access to this country's remote islands played a major role in the growing fundamentalism, said Hassan Saeed, the Maldives' former attorney general.

"Suddenly, an island nation cut off from the rest of the world became part of the global village," he said.

So did the Maldives. But despite the relative prosperity, there weren't enough jobs for the huge population of young people, and many turned to drugs or radical Islam, Saeed said. The Islamic Council, the government body that runs official mosques, accredits preachers and controls all aspects of religion here, was still distributing decades-old sermons to its imams and was caught unprepared, he said.

The trauma of the 2004 tsunami, which killed more than 100 people here and devastated many islands, also fueled an Islamic revival. Hussein Mohammed, 40, said he was among 200 displaced people originally from the island of Moondu who spent two years in an abandoned textile factory on the island of Gan before getting a new house. Many in the crowded factory sought solace in the translated copies of the Quran the government provided, and within months nearly all the women began wearing head scarves, he said.

"After something like the tsunami, this frightening thing, people became far more interested in religion," he said.

While many of the fundamentalists were not violent, a Maldivian was caught trying to join the Taliban in Afghanistan, another was arrested in India seeking to buy sniper rifles, and a third was jailed by U.S. authorities in Guantanamo Bay, Saeed said.

"For a small country, there were a large number of alarming signals," said Saeed, who quit the government in August, in part because he felt a report he wrote on the looming problem was ignored.

Like villagers on several other scattered islands, the people of Gan found themselves suddenly confronted by a small group of angry fundamentalists earlier this year.

"They said they are Muslims and others are not Muslims and that others should be killed," said Daoud Ibrahim, the clean-shaven imam at the government mosque. "I have never seen this before ... it's against our traditions."

While rows of villagers in knitted white skullcaps prayed in the spacious mosque with its green tile floors, the fundamentalists — dressed in Saudi-style white robes and headdress — took over a tiny mosque of concrete and corrugated metal meant for Bangladeshi construction workers. They pressured Maldivian women to wear head scarves, mocked clean-shaven men as unbelievers and quietly plotted to drive tourists out, officials said.

Some in the group were tsunami refugees from the remote island of Kalhadoo, which embraced a strict form of Islam more than a quarter century ago under the tutelage of a Saudi-educated preacher named Mohammed Ibrahim. Angry at Ibrahim's dissident Islamic views, the government banished him from Male to Kalhadoo, where he quickly turned the islanders into his disciples, said Yousef Ismail, a former Kalhadoo resident who now lives in Gan. Ismail spoke as his wife sat nearby, covered head-to-toe in a black robe.

Police say at least one of the men on Gan, whose cell phone was discovered in the ocean near the airport, was directly connected to the Male blast. On Wednesday, police said the man, Abdul Latheef Ibrahim, had fled to Pakistan ahead of the blast along with nine other suspects from different Maldive islands. Six other suspects were already in custody.

Source: MSNBC By RAVI NESSMAN Associated Press Writer

Maldives Terrorist Attack Suspects Flee to Pakistan, Police Say

Maldives police said 10 suspects in a bomb attack on international tourists in September fled to Pakistan and the Indian Ocean island nation is seeking Interpol's assistance to detain the fugitives.

The two prime suspects, Abdul Latheef Ibrahim and Ali Shameem, escaped the Maldives with the assistance of an immigration officer, Assistant Commissioner of Police Abdullah Riyaz said. Another eight entered Pakistan through Karachi before the Sept. 29 blast in the capital, Male, he said.

The suspects targeted non-Muslims to fulfill their ``jihad,'' or holy war, Riyaz said, in a statement on the Maldives Police Service Web site.

Several of the fugitives and people already detained in connection with the attack received training in bomb making at Pakistani madrassas, or religious schools, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported. The Maldives, a chain of 1,190 islands located southwest of India, is made up almost entirely of Sunni Muslims, according to U.S. government data.

The bomb exploded at a popular park while the tourists were on a city tour. The 12 people wounded included a British couple on their honeymoon, two Japanese and eight Chinese. The incident was the first terrorist attack in the country, President Abdul Gayoom said at the time.

Moderate Islam

The nation of 369,000 people has practiced a moderate form of Islam for the past 700 years and is concerned about the infiltration of Islamic radicals, according to the BBC.

Plans by Gayoom, who has led the country since 1978, to ban the veil and prevent preachers from overseas entering the country have been resisted by religious scholars and the Islamic political party, the broadcaster reported on its Web site.

Assistant Commissioner Riyaz showed video footage taken by the plotters of the preparation of the improvised explosive device used in the attack, according to a police statement.

Police yesterday applied for an Interpol Red Notice to arrest the fugitives and are working with the Pakistani authorities on the case, it said.

The United Nations said in a September report that Pakistan trains, recruits or shelters more than 80 percent of suicide bombers staging attacks in neighboring Afghanistan.

Almost all suicide attackers in Afghanistan ``undergo some form of training and preparation'' in Pakistani madrassas, according to the report.

In 2006, President Pervez Musharraf ordered religious schools to register with the government. A year earlier, he demanded they expel non-Pakistani students, after a U.K. investigation into the 2005 bombings in London showed that at least one of the suicide attackers visited a Pakistani madrassa.

The Maldives islands are spread over 900 kilometers (540 miles) in the Indian Ocean. The country's population lives on 198 of the islands. At $2,419, the Maldives had the highest per capita gross national income in the South Asia region in 2004, according to the World Bank.

Tourism accounts for almost a third of the Maldives economy and more than 60 percent of foreign exchange, according to the U.S. government's database.

Source: Bloomberg By Michael Heath

Bomb couple 'caught out' by travel policy

The honeymoon couple injured in the Maldives bombing last weekend face at least two months in hospital while their acute burns are treated.

Christian and Jenny Donelan, both 32, were flown to Britain last week in an air ambulance and are being treated in the burns unit of South Manchester Hospital.

Family and friends have been horrified by the extent of their injuries. Mr Donelan and his wife are both wrapped in cotton wool to ease their discomfort, but they remain in great pain.

Mr Donelan has 27 per cent first- and second-degree burns; his wife of three weeks is more seriously injured with 40 per cent burns.

On Friday, the couple had their wounds bathed for the first time. They are expected to require skin grafts.

The couple, who honeymooned in the Maldives after marrying in Italy, are critical of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and say the Government refused to contribute towards the £106,000 cost of their air ambulance.

Their families said in a joint statement: "When British citizens are seriously injured in a terrorist attack in a benign country, we believe the Government has a duty to support their evacuation to the UK where they can receive the medical attention they need. We will be approaching our MP in order for this complete disregard for the well-being of British citizens to be questioned in the House of Commons."

The couple's holiday insurance also failed to cover the cost of the air ambulance. "We would like to draw everyone's attention to the importance of reading the small print in travel insurance policies – don't be caught out like Christian and Jenny," the statement said.

The families did, however, issue a list of "thank-yous" to the Maldives people, the ADK Hospital in Male where they were first treated and Mr Donelan's employer, Boartes.

Mr Donelan, from Rotherham, and his wife, from Manchester, both work in the Gulf state of Qatar as sports events organisers.

Tim Bulleyment, a friend of the couple, said: "Christian is in a lot of pain – and Jenny is worse. They now face a long recovery period."

The couple were among 12 tourists injured when a nail bomb exploded in Male, the capital of the Maldives. Islamist terrorists are suspected of carrying out the attack.

Source: Telegraph

Police release details of two plotters, more CCTV footage

The Maldives Police Service has yesterday released details of two of the plotters who detonated the home-made bomb inside Sultan Park on Saturday, along with CCTV footage showing their activities during the execution of their plan.

At a press meeting held at the Police Headquarters the Assistant Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz identified the two who had carried out the bombing as Ahmed Naseer, 20, of Saadhunaa Manzil in Gaafu Alifu atoll Kanduhulhudhoo and Moosa Inas, 21, of Finihiyaage in Laamu atoll Kalhaidhoo.

Previously unseen footage showing the activities of the two perpetrators before and after the explosion near Sultan Park was also shown at the press meeting. The footage showed Inas and Naseer walking together into the Sultan Park and coming out one after the other 7 minutes later. They had then met each other around 80 feet away from the main gate of Sultan Park before parting ways and going off in different directions. Sometime later Inas is seen, wearing a black T-Shirt with ‘CIA’ written in white letters on the back, riding on a motorcycle and stopping just past the Sultan Park main gate. A minute later the bomb explodes and Inas is seen speeding away on the motorcycle.

Riyaz said that both Inas and Naseer had now confessed to their parts in the bombing and that both of them had been arrested while in another country where they had fled following the bombing. Riyaz did not reveal which country that they had both fled to.

Riyaz also said that the cycle that Inas had used to get away after detonating the bomb had also been located parked in front of Zikuraa Mosque and had been impounded by the Police.

Riyaz went on to say that they had received information that a SIM card and a mobile phone used in the bombing had been dumped into the sea near Hulhule and had sent a Police team to locate it. A video detailing the search and collection of the SIM card from the Hulhule lagoon was also shown at the press meeting.

Riyaz also named Mohamed Sobah, 19, of V. Landhooge Aage, as having confessed to being part of the plot and showed a picture of him. He also said that 14 people had been arrested so far in connection to the attack that had injured 12 tourists, and that four of them were foreigners. He said that they were also searching for two others and showed their mugshots and revealed their details. The two people that are currently wanted by the Police are Abdul Latheef Ibrahim, 24, of Green Villa in Laamu atoll Kalhaidhoo, and Ali Shameem, 25, of Dhoores in Shaviyani atoll Komandoo.

The Assistant Commissioner also said that no one that had been arrested during the investigation had been released so far and said that every one of those that had been arrested had been brought into custody for their connection with the bombing.

When asked what the motive behind the attack had been Riyaz said that since there were still some people who they needed to interrogate it was difficult to reveal a motive at the moment.

Source: Haveeru Online

Air ambulance to evacuate honeymooners

AN air ambulance arrived in the Maldives overnight to evacuate a British honeymoon couple wounded in a weekend bomb attack, a minister said.

The plane, chartered by the Maldivian government, will airlift Christian and Jennifer Donelan, both 32, to Britain, where they will undergo further medical treatment, Tourism Minister Mahamood Shougee said.

"The plane arrived this morning (Tuesday) and the Donelans' medical team will decide if they should fly out later today or on Wednesday," Mr Shougee said by telephone from the Maldivian capital Male.

Doctors in Male said the couple may need skin grafts after they were burnt in Sunday's crude bomb attack. Two Japanese and eight Chinese tourists were also hurt in the blast.

The Donelans, who live in Qatar, married in Italy two weeks ago and were on their honeymoon in the Indian Ocean atoll nation.

Their insurance did not cover acts of terrorism, but the Maldivian government stepped in to pay for the plane as a goodwill gesture, Mr Shougee said.

The bomb, which was packed with nails and detonated by mobile phone, was the first terrorist strike of its kind in the archipelago.

Six Japanese tourists have cancelled their holiday to the atoll nation, while Australia advised citizens to "exercise caution and monitor developments" when travelling to the Maldives.

"We are now collecting information from the resorts so the number (of cancellations) might increase," Maldives Tourism Promotion Board official Mohamed Maleeh Jamaal was quoted as saying by the Haveeru Daily newspaper.

Police have so far arrested 11 people, including two Bangladeshi expatriate workers to whom the mobile phones used in the attack were traced.

Officers from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) flew into Male yesterday Monday to help the Maldivian authorities in their investigation, the US embassy here said.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz said in Male that some of those detained confessed to having helped in the bombing.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack and Riyaz said authorities were looking into the possibility of religious or political motives.

Tourism, a key driver of the Maldivian economy, has helped make the 1192 coral islands one of the richest nations in South Asia with a per-capita income of $US2674 ($2995)

Source:

FBI joins Male blast probe

US investigators arrived in the Maldives Monday to probe a bomb attack against tourists, as authorities prepared to fly a honeymooning British couple wounded in the blast home, officials said.

Maldivian authorities said two Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agents were helping local investigators question 10 people, including two Bangladesh nationals, following Saturday’s attack. The US embassy in Sri Lanka, which is also accredited to the neighbouring Maldives, said it condemned “without reservation this senseless act of violence.”

The blast at Sultan Park, a favourite stop for foreigners and locals visiting the capital island Male, wounded two Britons, two Japanese and eight Chinese. Maldivian officials said arrangements were being made to fly the 32-year-old British newlyweds, who suffered extensive burns, to Britain for advanced treatment, possibly on Tuesday.

Police were questioning those arrested over the attack, which has undermined the country’s image as one of South Asia’s safest holiday destinations. “The 10 (arrested) include two Bangladesh nationals,” tourism minister Mahamood Shougee told AFP by telephone.

The government has blamed its political rivals. President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom described it as the first terrorist attack in the archipelago. It was the heaviest number of casualties from violence in the low-lying atoll since anti-Gayoom riots left two dead in September 2003. No group has claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack which Gayoom, who has ruled since 1978 and is Asia’s longest serving leader, blamed on “very selfish and irresponsible... people who for political reasons have been calling for the boycott of the Maldives on the tourism front.”

The pro-dissident Friends of Maldives, which urged a boycott of Maldivian resorts closely associated with members of Gayoom’s regime, denied any involvement in the bombing. “Friends of Maldives (FOM) are surprised by the ridiculous statements from President Gayoom ... that the FOM are in some way behind the Male bombing,” the group said in a statement.

The British-based FOM was set up in December 2003, two months after pro-democracy riots in Male, and supports human rights activists and campaigns against alleged abuses in the nation of 330,000 Muslims. Officials said the two Japanese and eight Chinese nationals who were hurt in the blast have been discharged from hospital. afp

Source: Daily Times

Six tourists have cancelled following bombing in Sultan Park – MTPB

Six tourists have cancelled their trip to Maldives as a result of the explosion at the Sultan Park in Male’, the capital of Maldives, the Maldives Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) has said.

Mohamed Maleeh Jamaal of the MTPB said that the tourists that had cancelled their trips to Maldives as a direct result of the bombing in Sultan Park were six Japanese tourists.

“Don’t know if there had been any other cancellations,” he said yesterday. “We are now collecting information from the resorts so the number might increase.”

The home-made bomb, referred by the Police as an improvised explosive device, that had been detonated at the Sultan Park on Saturday had caused severe burns to two tourists and left ten others injured. Those injured were from China, Britain and Japan.

“The repercussions of this will be bad,” Maleeh said. “We will only see the effects after 10 days or so. Now we are getting a clearer picture of what happened and the news reports are changing accordingly. They will think twice about cancelling now.”

Only one country, Australia, has issued a travel warning to tourists following the first terrorist attack on the tourism industry in the Maldives.

“They have just issued a warning advising travelers to be cautious,” Maleeh said. “No other country has issued such a warning.”

While the MTPB will closely monitor local and international news coverage of the attack, it will also monitor the tourist arrivals to the country for the next ten days or so.

The British honeymoon couple who were injured in the bomb blast are still receiving treatment at the ADK Hospital in Male’ for their burns. They have been receiving bouquets with attached ‘Get Well Soon’ cards and similar wishes by businesses, offices, schools and private parties.

Source: Haveeru

Some perpetrators of Sultan Park bombing have confessed – Police

Some of those involved in the detonation of an improvised explosive device inside Sultan Park on Saturday in which 12 tourists were injured have confessed during the investigation, Police said today.

Speaking at a press conference held at the Shaheed Hussain Adam Building today, the Assistant Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz said that two of the suspects had fled to another country after the attack but had been brought back to Maldives and were being interrogated. He did not specify which country they had fled to but added that another suspect who had tried to leave the country yesterday had been detained at the airport and was now being interrogated also.

Out of the 12 suspects arrested so far 2 are foreigners, Riyaz said and added that they now had clear understanding of who were involved and how much they were involved. Riyaz said that the perpetrators were now revealing how the attack had gone down.

Riyaz did not reveal which country the two foreigners were from or how many of the suspects had confessed so far.

“Because there are still other suspects we need to bring in for questioning,” he said. He added that they had arrested the foreigners because they had enough evidence to suspect their involvement and were now investigating how much they were involved in the attack.

One of those who were arrested in connection to the Saturday’s attack included a boy under 18 years of age, Riyaz said. He said that there were still others who needed to be interrogated and that the number of people who were involved in the attack would be revealed once the investigation was wrapped up.

Riyaz confirmed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had also agreed to help with the investigation and added that two FBI officials from New Delhi, India, had arrived in Maldives and were now part of the investigative team. He refused to share the evidence they had collected so far, citing complications in the investigation if the information was made public. He also acknowledged the role that the public had played in providing invaluable help during the investigation.

He further said that they were also looking into the possibility that there were any religious or political motives behind the attack.

“The reason for the attack is now clear,” he said. “However, I am not at liberty to make the reasons public at this stage of the investigation.” He also did not specify if those who had been arrested belonged to any group or what kind of work they did.

Riyaz also said that so far there was no indication or reason to suspect that the perpetrators had planned another attack similar to the Saturday one. Riyaz also said that it was not clear yet if it was foreigners or locals who were at behind the attack

Source: Haveeru

NGO blamed for tourist bombing

Maldivian President Abdul Gayoom implicated a British-based human rights organisation in Saturday’s bombing that left 12 tourists injured, while the group suspended its tourism boycott.

Gayoom told national television after the incident that people calling for the boycott of the Maldives on the tourism front should “share some responsibility” for the incident in which eight Chinese, two Japanese and two British were injured when a homemade bomb exploded at Sultan park in the capital, Male.

Gayoom stopped short of naming any organisation but was widely believed to be hinting at British human rights group the Friends of Maldives (FOM), which was carrying out a campaign among tourists not to visit 15 resorts believed to be owned by government figures.

FOM spokesman David Hardingham, speaking from London by telephone, dismissed Gayoom’s claim, saying it was “nonsense”. He said the FOM’s campaign was focused on the poor human rights situation in Maldives. The group suspended its boycott call after the attack. Sapa-DPA

Source: Business Day

Maldives were 'warned of Islamic danger'

The Government of the Maldives had received explicit warnings of the dangers of rising Islamic fundamentalism but failed to take action to address the issue, the country's former attorney-general told The Daily Telegraph.

Dr Hassan Saeed, who resigned his position last month in protest at Government policies on the issue, said the Maldives government had received a detailed action plan to combat Islamist extremism but had "sat on its hands".

"The action plan was submitted to the President and the government seven months ago but they failed to take any measures to address the issue of extremism. They've just sat on the report," he said from the capital, Male.

Two men were arrested yesterday in connection with the attacks. Local sources said they were "jewellery repairmen" who had been linked to the mobile telephone used to trigger the blast.

The attack, using a home-made device constructed from the telephone and a washing machine motor, has realised the worst fears of many Maldivians who have watched the traditionally moderate Sunni Muslim country grow increasingly radicalised.

"The change in the Maldives has really been quite scary over the last three or four years," said Jennifer Latheef, a local human rights activist. "The number of women wearing the veil has risen dramatically."

Dr Saeed said the growing sway of fundamentalist clerics in the Maldives had coincided with moves to introduce democracy into the islands following demonstrations against President Gayoom in 2003.

"A growing number of Maldivian students are going to study in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan where they are learning a radical Wahhabi interpretation of Islam."

Source: Telegraph

Maldives bomb couple win air ambulance fight

A British couple badly injured in the Maldives nailbomb attack will be flown by helicopter to a specialist burns unit in the UK today after a battle over who would cover their costs.

Christian Donelan and his wife, Jennifer, suffered severe burns after being caught in the terrorist attack in Male, the capital of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, on Saturday.

But they were temporarily left stranded as authorities argued over who would pay for emergency treatment.

Doctors at the Maldives hospital where Mr and Mrs Donelan are being treated told the couple they required plastic surgery and skin grafts urgently, but admitted they did not have the expertise to carry out the procedures.

An air ambulance was left on standby to fly the couple to a hospital in south Manchester, near the Wigan home of Mrs Donelan's parents, at a cost of £125,000.

But the family suffered a difficult day negotiating with an insurance company, the Maldives government and the Foreign Office over the cost of the flight.

The insurance firm, based in Qatar, where the couple live, originally claimed they would not cover "an act of terrorism" under their policy.

But last night the family said they had secured funding with the help of Foreign Office pressure.

Although not in a life threatening condition, Mrs Donelan has first degree and second degree burns covering up to 40 per cent of her body – including her face, hands and legs. Mr Donelan has 27 per cent burns.

A friend close to the couple said last night: "We were worried all day trying to secure the funds but it is great news that Christian and Jennifer are coming home."

Mr and Mrs Donelan, originally from Rotherham, South Yorks, were visited by British consular officials and the Maldives president, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

The couple, who both work as sports events organisers, were married near Lake Como, Italy, two weeks ago.

They were on the last day of their honeymoon and had already packed their bags and checked out of their hotel when they were caught in the blast.

Twelve tourists in total were injured in the attack – the first of its kind on the islands.

The bombing is being widely linked to home-grown Islamist elements.

Around 60,000 British tourists travel to the Maldives each year.

Many of them are honeymooners and travel agents are now waiting to see if any holidaymakers decide to cancel planned trips as a result of the attack.

The Maldivian government moved swiftly to allay fears that a similar attack could be launched against tourists in one of the 87 islands which offer a "Robin Crusoe" experience to holidaymakers.

Resort operators contacted by The Daily Telegraph last night said holidaymakers had been briefed on the situation and decided to continue their stays.

The Foreign Office has updated its travel advice with a general statement about the "global risk of indiscriminate terrorist attacks" but said it had no plans to warn against travel to the Maldives.

Source: Telegraph