Maldives diplomat held in Malaysia for bid on President life

A senior Maldivian diplomat and four other Maldivians have been arrested and deported from Malaysia in connection with September’s attempted assassination of Maldives President Abdulla Yameen, the police said here on Friday.

The 47-year-old investment counsellor was nabbed by a team of Malaysia’s Special Branch’s Counter-Terrorism Division operatives at a condominium here on Thursday.

Four other Maldivians, two men and two women, were also apprehended there.Inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said that the man was suspected to be involved with the assassination plot, involving a bomb which was set off on board a speedboat carrying Mr Yameen near Male on September 28.

“The suspect is a 47-year-old Maldivian man, who is also the country’s investment counsellor,” the police chief said. Mr Khalid said the suspects were arrested under the Immigration Act, and were deported to the Maldives on Friday for further action by the country’s authorities.

In the attack, Mr Yameen was unhurt, while his wife and two aides sustained minor injuries from the blast.Maldives vice-president Ahmed Adeeb was also arrested last week over the alleged attempt to assassinate Mr Yameen, the Maldives government said.

The police and the military had raided homes, offices and property of Mr Adheeb’s close associates following the blast further fueling rumors that the vice-president had orchestrated the blast.

Mr Adeeb however has dismissed allegations that he was the mastermind behind the explosion.Mr Yameen has been criticised for a crackdown on political dissent, including the arrest of Maldives’ first democratically-elected President, Mohamed Nasheed. Mr Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years’ jail in 2015 on terrorism charges.