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Maldives police say Nasheed’s “act of terror” | bomb blast Maldives News

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So far no arrests have been made, but police say they are looking for “four people of interest” who have been “noticed for suspicious behavior at the crime scene.”

Male, Maldives – Maldives police said on explosion which left Mohamed Nasheed, the country’s former president and current parliamentary speaker critical condition it was a “deliberately terrified act.”

The 53-year-old leader of the ruling party was taken to a hospital in the capital, Male, on Thursday at around 8.30pm after a device connected to a local engine exploded. He remains in intensive care after a “critical, successful final procedure to save him alive,” ADK Hospital said Friday.

Nasheed had to undergo several 16-hour surgeries to remove the shrapnel and treat life-threatening injuries to his head, chest, abdomen and chest, the hospital tweeted when police reported to reporters on Friday evening.

Police Commissioner Mohamed Hameed said there had been no arrests, but authorities were trying to identify “four people of interest” who were “suspected of behaving suspiciously at the scene of the crime”.

“The country’s security services, including the Maldives National Defense Force and the Maldives Police Service, are currently taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of citizens and are improving protective measures in the Male region,” he added.

Early findings suggested that the bomb was not made with “military-grade explosives,” Assistant Commissioner of Police Mohamed Riyaz said no links had been established with “terrorist” foreign organizations.

No responsibility for the bombing has been claimed as Nasheed was about to get into his car on the main road that divides the dense city.

Nasheed’s three military bodyguards, along with two others – a 41-year-old Maldivian and a 70-year-old Briton – also suffered minor injuries, Hameed said, asking for public information and calling the anonymity of callers.

Mohamed Nasheed became the first democratically elected president of the Maldives in 2008 [Janek Skarzynski/AFP]

Local media reported wounds on one of the bodyguards after the shrapnel was removed from his hands and feet.

In a televised speech, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said the incident was an “attack on democracy and the economy in the Maldives” and assured of a “rapid and in-depth investigation”.

Two experts from the Australian Federal Police will arrive on Saturday morning to assist in the investigation, and two British experts from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, currently located in the Maldives, are also working with the investigation team, Hameed said.

He acknowledged the need to conduct an investigation into the fact that police intelligence was not aware of the immediate attack, as journalists were asked about the calls for his resignation.



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