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Ousted at gunpoint, ex-president of Maldives takes to streets By Stabroek staff   |  0 Comments   |  World News | Thursday, February 9, 2012 

MALE,  (Reuters) - The ousted president of the Maldives, credited with bringing democracy to the Indian Ocean islands, said yesterday he had been forced out of power at gunpoint, prompting clashes between police and angry supporters.

Mohamed NasheedMohamed Nasheed, who in 2008 became the first democratically elected president of the 1,200-island archipelago best known for luxury tourism, resigned on Tuesday after three weeks of opposition protests culminated in a police revolt.
Just a day after he stepped down, it was as if Nasheed had stepped back in time: riot police and soldiers launched tear gas grenades and beat him and other supporters, a scene played out scores of times under the 30-year rule of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, whom he succeeded.
Witnesses said around 40 or 50 people including Nasheed had been injured, some severely. Police and soldiers surrounded the main hospital and kept journalists out of Republic Square, the site of the protest on Male’s northern seafront.
“I was quite close to him when they began to charge. He had some cuts and bruises but he was beaten quite badly,” a cousin of Nasheed, who asked not be identified, told Reuters.
Adam Manik, a senior official in Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), said the former leader was in a safe house. The party in a statement appealed for international help, and Nasheed blamed his old rival Gayoom for the crisis.
AT GUNPOINT
Nasheed on Jan. 16 ordered the military to arrest the criminal court chief justice, saying he was blocking multi-million dollar corruption and human rights cases against Gayoom allies. That set off the protests that led to his departure.
“Yes, I was forced to resign at gunpoint,” Nasheed told reporters after addressing a meeting of his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in his first public appearance since his ouster. “There were guns all around me and they told me they wouldn’t hesitate to use them if I didn’t resign.”
Earlier, a close aide told Reuters the military on Tuesday marched Nasheed into his own office to give his resignation on state TV, in the first eyewitness account.
“The gates of the president’s office swung open and in came these unmarked vehicles we’ve never seen before and Nasheed came out with around 50 soldiers around him, and senior military men we’d never seen before,” said Paul Roberts, Nasheed’s communications adviser.

DEMOCRATIC govt overthrown and as of yet no international condemnation. Could it be because it has no natural resourses and that these islands will soon be under water  due    global warming?
The  highest  point of these Island is just 6 feet above sea level

Or the nexx Tsunami...

which ever comes first !

no that's the island of Tuvalu

Maldives’ Former Leader Calls for Early ElectionsBy VIKAS BAJAJ and SRUTHI GOTTIPATIPublished: February 10, 2012 |

MALE, Maldives — As United Nations officials tried to resolve the political turmoil in this Indian Ocean nation, the former president demanded his replacement step down and call early elections and urged the international community to stop security services from beating his supporters on outlying islands. The New York TimesPolitical unrest boiled over in Male after a judge’s arrest.  The former leader, Mohamed Nasheed, who resigned on Tuesday in what he claims was a coup, rallied hundreds of people outside a mosque here in the capital, Male, in open defiance of an arrest warrant issued against him on Thursday. Later on Friday, he told reporters that the police and military were beating and arresting elected leaders and other supporters of his party — an accusation that the police denied. His statements came two days after violent clashes erupted in Male between Mr. Nasheed’s supporters and police officials who used tear gas and wooden batons to disperse the crowds. While the capital was largely peaceful on Friday, reports from Mr. Nasheed’s supporters and others from the southern city of Addu suggested conditions remained volatile elsewhere in the country of 1,200 islands, which is known for its idyllic and luxurious beach resorts.
“As we speak now, in Addu the police and military are ransacking the city,” Mr. Nasheed said at a news conference on Friday afternoon, later adding: “I’m really hoping there is some kind of intervention. It’s hopeless. Our people are getting beaten up.”
A police spokesman based in Male, Abdul Mannan Yoosuf, denied those accusations, as well as claims by Mr. Nasheed that members of the Addu City Council had been arrested and its mayor deposed. “At the moment, it’s peaceful and under control,” Mr. Yoosuf said.
Ahmed Azaan, an 18-year-old resident of Addu who supports Mr. Nasheed, said in a telephone interview that a friend of his was detained, pepper sprayed and held naked in a military base in Addu on Thursday before being released. The claim could not be independently verified, though some users of Twitter reported knowing people who were treated similarly.
The Maldives plunged into turmoil on Tuesday when Mr. Nasheed abruptly resigned as president after months of protests by opposition parties and Islamic groups. The following day, however, he said that he was forced to resign by security forces loyal to allies of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled the country for 30 years before Mr. Nasheed was elected in 2008.
The former vice president, Mohammed Waheed Hassan, who served under Mr. Nasheed and is a former United Nations official, was sworn in as president on Tuesday. Mr. Nasheed accused Mr. Hassan of conspiring with allies of Mr. Gayoom to displace him. But Mr. Hassan denied that charge, telling reporters: “Do I look like somebody who will bring about a coup d’état?”
In an interview on Friday with Agence France-Presse, Mr. Gayoom, who was traveling in Malaysia, also denied being involved in a coup and said that he had not decided whether he would seek to return to power. “I don’t think I will, but I cannot rule it out,” he told the news service.
On Thursday, the Criminal Court of the Maldives issued arrest warrants for Mr. Nasheed and the country’s former defense minister. The specifics of the charges remained uncertain Friday, but government officials did not appear to be seeking to enforce it. Dunya Maumoon, the spokeswoman for Mr. Gayoom’s Progressive Party of Maldives, said the government had not decided whether it would arrest Mr. Nasheed.
On Friday afternoon, Mr. Nasheed, smiling and wearing a short-sleeve pale yellow shirt, walked into Male’s biggest mosque surrounded by a small band of supporters. Nearby, soldiers prevented worshipers from approaching the mosque on their motorcycles as they usually do.
Later, after the prayers ended and Mr. Nasheed emerged, the crowd started whooping and chanting his nickname, Anni. Several hundred men then followed him to his home, clapping and chanting his name.
A teacher who came to pray at the mosque said he was saddened by the reports of violence across the country in recent days. The teacher, who did not want his name revealed for fear of retaliation, said the clashes reminded him of the 30 years of single-party rule that ended in 2008 when ordinary people would sometimes disappear into police custody. “Brutality is returning, and that brings out bad memories,” he said.
Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, the United Nations assistant secretary general for political affairs, met with Mr. Nasheed and Mr. Hassan on Friday, but no breakthroughs were announced.
“In this atmosphere, it is very difficult for any meaningful and national form of discussion,” Mr. Fernandez-Taranco said upon his arrival in the country on Thursday, The Associated Press reported. “I therefore request all political actors to remain calm and prevent any type of violence.”
An American envoy, Robert O. Blake Jr., assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs, was scheduled to arrive in Male on Saturday to assess the situation. Britain and India have also sent emissaries and Britain has issued a travel advisory discouraging tourists from going to the Maldives because of the current instability.
From Washington, a State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said the United States considered Mr. Hassan’s administration to be the legitimate government of the Maldives. But later issued a clarification that said “the circumstances surrounding the transfer of power must be clarified,” and that the United States “suggests all parties agree to an independent mechanism to do so.”
Vikas Bajaj reported from Male and Sruthi Gottipati from New Delhi. Hari Kumar contributed reporting from New Delhi and Kevin Drew from Hong Kong.

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