Former Maldives President Nasheed hurt in suspected bomb attack

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Former Maldives President Nasheed hurt in suspected bomb attack

8:55 CAT | 06 May 2021

Nasheed became parliament speaker, the Indian Ocean nation's second most powerful position, following his party's landslide victory in elections in April 2019 [File: Manish Swarup/AP]

Ex-president and current Maldives Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed rushed to hospital after the blast.

Former Maldives president and current Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed was injured in a blast outside his family home on Thursday, police said in a statement.

Photos circulated on social media showed a ripped up motorcycle at the scene but it is still not clear whether the blast was an assassination attempt.

“Following an explosion … Speaker of Parliament President Mohamed Nasheed has sustained injuries and is currently receiving treatment at ADK Hospital,” the statement said on Thursday.

There were no details of the injuries suffered by Nasheed. At least one of his bodyguards was also taken to hospital. State TV channel PSM reported that a foreign tourist was also injured.

Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid strongly condemned the attack.

In a statement on Twitter, he said: “Cowardly attacks like these have no place in our society. My thoughts and prayers are with President Nasheed and others injured in this attack, as well as their families.”

The explosion took place on Thursday as Nasheed, 53, was getting into his car in the capital Male, an official from his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), told AFP news agency by telephone.

“It looks like some sort of an improvised explosive device, possibly rigged up to a parked motorcycle,” the official said adding that an investigation was under way.

Nasheed became parliament speaker, the Indian Ocean nation’s second most powerful position, following his party’s landslide victory in elections in April 2019.

He became the country’s first democratically elected president after winning the first multiparty elections in 2008.

He was toppled in a coup in 2012 and was unable to contest the 2018 presidential elections after he was convicted of criminal charges.

However, he returned to the country from self-imposed exile after his party won the 2018 presidential elections and then entered parliament.

Maldives is known for its luxury resort islands but has seen rare violent attacks. In 2007, a blast in a park in the capital wounded 12 foreign tourists.

Source: Al Jazeera