AFC Cup Preview: Al Kuwait v New Radiant

Al Kuwait head into the second leg of their AFC Cup quarter-final with New Radiant knowing they are on the cusp of reaching the last four.

Marin Ion's men cruised to a 7-2 victory in the first leg in the Maldives and securing their progress to the semi-finals on Tuesday should be a formality.

Tunisian striker Issam Jemaa was the key man in the first leg, the 29-year-old finding the net four times as the Kuwaiti champions picked apart the New Radiant defence.

That result should give the hosts supreme confidence going into the second leg, but they will be eager to guard against complacency.

Still, the defending champions will be heavy favourites for the game at the Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium, with the focus sure to be on Jemaa as he looks to add to his tally of 10 goals in this competition so far.

Both sides will have to make changes ahead of the game, with Mohamed Umair suspended for New Radiant, and Abudulhadi Khamis banned for Al Kuwait after both players were dismissed in the closing stages of the first leg.

New Radiant displayed great spirit in the second half of that contest, Ali Fasir and Ali Ashfaq pulling goals back after they had fallen 6-0 behind before the interval.

Chedi Hammami's late penalty all but ended their hopes but Velizar Popov's men should be keen to regain some respectability and avoid another dismal loss.

Popov will likely look to striker Ali Ashfaq - who has nine goals in the competition so far - to inspire them to victory.

The winner of the tie will face either East Bengal or Semen in the last four.

Source: http://int.soccerway.com/news/2013/September/21/afc-cup-preview-al-kuwait-v-new-radiant/

No evidence of any election fraud: Transparency Maldives

MALE: In the backdrop of election rigging allegations, voluntary watchdog Transparency Maldives said that it did not find "any evidence" supporting the claims of fraud in the first round of presidential polls.

Transparency Maldives was one of the observer group which kept a close watch on presidential elections held on September 7 with the help of its volunteers at over 470 ballot boxes.

"In view of the cases submitted and allegations made at the High Court and Supreme Court of the Maldives regarding systematic vote rigging, Transparency Maldives notes that it did not find any evidence that support allegations of systematic election day fraud during the nation-wide observation," the group said in a statement.

It appealed to "all actors and institutions to refrain from undermining the integrity of and confidence in the election day processes without credible evidence of fraud."

India and other international agencies including the UN which were part of over 100 international observers have appealed to all parties to respect the will of people expressed through results.

India has asked all sides to respect the verdict and aspirations of the people of Maldives.

"We hope that the second round of Presidential elections will be held as scheduled on September 28, 2013 in a similar transparent, organised and peaceful manner," a spokesperson of the Indian External Affairs Ministry had said yesterday.

The Jumhooree Party (JP) whose candidate Gasim Ibrahim missed the second of polls round by a whisker has alleged irregularities in the voters' list and requested the apex court to annul first round of elections.

The appeal has support of Progressive Party of Maldives whose candidate Abdullah Yameen remained runner-up.

The allegations have been refuted by the Election Commission and Maldivian Democratic Party whose candidate former President Mohammed Nasheed won the first round with overwhelming 45 per cent of total votes.

He would face runner-up Abdullah Yameen in the second round on September 28 as none of the candidate could muster up support of over 50 per cent of the voters.

Source: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-09-19/news/42218222_1_gasim-ibrahim-jumhooree-party-president-mohammed-nasheed

From Maldives to Bangkok… Dubai Police help bust drug gangs

The General Directorate for Drug Control of Dubai Police received many letters of thanks for its contribution in helping foil at least five cases of cocaine smuggling.

The suspects were attempting to smuggle drugs from Latin America to South Africa, Maldives, Singapore and Thailand.

A total of about 13kgs of cocaine were seized from the five cases.

In the first operation a woman coming from Cape Town was caught. She was hiding at least 5kg drugs in several bags.

In the second case, the lead given by Dubai Police helped arrest a suspect at Durban airport, who possessed 400 grams of cocaine.

In the third operation, the suspect was arrested in Maldives and 3.2 kg cocaine was seized from the suitcase.

The fourth case was busted in Bangkok airport following information provided by Dubai Police. The suspect was caught with 1.4 kg of cocaine.

Two others from South Africa were also arrested.

The fifth operation led to the arrest of the suspect at Singapore airport.

The accused along with a woman was held with 3 kg of cocaine. They had hid the drugs in metal pipes.

Source: http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/from-maldives-to-bangkok-dubai-police-help-bust-drug-gangs-2013-09-14-1.520987

Coconut detained in Maldives over vote-rigging claims

A coconut has been detained by Maldivian police on suspicion of vote-rigging in a key presidential election.

The coconut, described as "young", was found near a school that will be used as a polling station on Saturday on the remote Kaafu atoll, one of the hundreds of islands that comprise the Indian Ocean archipelago state.

Though the population of the Maldives is Sunni Muslim, continuing belief in magic is widespread in rural areas. Coconuts are often used in rituals and inscribed with spells.

The hundreds of thousands of international tourists who travel to the Maldives usually stay in isolated resorts and have no contact with local people other than staff.

The local Minivan news website reported that police "took the coconut into their possession" around 7.05am on Tuesday, after they received a complaint about the suspicious fruit near the school on the Guraidhoo Island, which lies 130 miles from the capital, Male, and has a population of around 2,000.

"The 4in coconut had a [Koranic verse] written in Arabic [on it] and was lying on the ground near the school, easy for the public to see. It seems like it was a joke, just a prank, so that people will become aware," Minivan quoted a source on Guraidhoo saying.

Minivan said its source had suggested the coconut "was a lesson for islanders not to practise black magic in an attempt to influence voting, and that the polling area would be closely monitored to prevent such activities from occurring".

Earlier this year, school authorities on Guraidhoo resisted using their buildings as a polling station, citing previous instances when problems had been caused by magic. Their fears were only partly allayed when the national election commission said it would accept responsibility "if anyone falls under a spell or comes down ill".

The election has been bitterly contested, with Mohammed Nasheed, the former president, who claims he was ousted last year in a coup, taking on one of the Maldives' biggest businessmen, the outgoing president and the half-brother of former dictator, Mamoun Abdul Gayoom.

Nasheed, an internationally respected human rights and climate-change campaigner, hopes to win outright this weekend and avoid a run-off second round of voting.

A magician summoned by police established that the coconut was innocent, local officials have said. No arrests have been made.


Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/06/coconut-detained-maldives-vote-rigging

Maldives' Ex-Leader: Anti-Islamic Label Cost Votes

The first democratically elected president of the Maldives said Sunday that his rivals portraying him as anti-Islamic may have turned some voters against him and possibly denied him a simple majority in the presidential election.


Mohamed Nasheed emerged the clear leader in Saturday's election, receiving 45 percent of the votes, but fell short of the more than 50 percent needed in the first round to avoid a Sept. 28 runoff against Yaamin Abdul Qayyoom, a brother of the Maldives' former autocrat Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Nasheed's rivals have long accused him of working with Jews and Christians and of trying to undermine Islam in the 100 percent Muslim nation. He was ousted from power midway through his first term last year, plunging the Indian Ocean archipelago into political uncertainty.

"Some used religion as a campaign strategy, manipulating it to a large extent, and it did affect a few voters," Nasheed told reporters.

The religious issue featured prominently in the election campaign, with writings on walls in Male, the capital, reading "Pope Anni." Nasheed is known as Anni among Maldivians.

He also said that even though the election was largely peaceful, turnout in some areas was higher than the number of registered voters. He said he asked the Elections Commission for an explanation.

Nasheed, who in 2008 won the country's first multiparty election after 30 years of autocracy, said a decision would be made soon whether to contest the results in court.

Transparency Maldives, an independent election monitoring group, said that there were minor complaints of voting irregularities, but that they would not affect the result.

Qayyoom received 25 percent of Saturday's vote, while businessman Qasim Ibrahim was a close third with 24 percent and incumbent President Mohamed Waheed Hassan got 5 percent, according to Elections Commission results released Sunday.

More than 211,000 of the Maldives' 240,000 eligible voters turned out.

The country, known for its luxurious island beach resorts, has been in political turmoil since Nasheed resigned last year after weeks of public protests and slipping support from the military and police. He later said he was forced to resign at gunpoint by mutinying security forces and politicians backed by the country's former autocrat.

Though a domestic commission of inquiry threw out his claim, Nasheed has repeatedly dismissed as illegal the government of Hassan, his former vice president.

Despite winning the most first-round votes Saturday, Nasheed may still face a battle getting over the finish line as the third- and fourth-place finishers were also his bitter critics and are likely to throw their support to Qayyoom.

However, Nasheed may benefit from the fact that some Maldivians remember the human rights issues of the three-decade dictatorship and fear returning there.

"Now I am 40 and I know what happened (in the 30 years), said an airport worker, Ali, who only gave one name.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/maldives-leader-anti-islamic-label-cost-votes-20192950