TEMPO.CO, Male - The military on Monday, November 2, found and deactivated an explosive device near the president's official residence, a top Maldives official said.
The discovery came a month after an explosion occurred on President Yameen Abdul Gayoom's boat, injuring his wife, an aide and a bodyguard. Authorities described the blast as an assassination attempt and arrested the vice president. But on Saturday, the FBI said its investigation found no evidence that the explosion was caused by a bomb. The FBI investigated the explosion at the request of the Maldives authorities.
Maldives Home Minister Umar Naseer said the improvised explosive device found Monday was in a parked vehicle near the president's official residence. Gayoom does not live at the residence but uses it frequently for meetings.
He said the device had been made with a dynamite stick and connected to a remote control device.
Naseer said he suspected Gayoom was being targeted again "by the same people" who failed to succeed in the boat explosion. He did not say who they were.
Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb was among nine people arrested on suspicion after the blast.
An archipelago state in the Indian ocean with 350,000 people, mostly Sunni Muslim, Maldives in known better for its luxury resort islands. It has had a difficult transition to democracy since holding its first multiparty election in 2008, with the first democratically elected leader being jailed for 13 years under the country's terrorism law. The trial was criticized both locally and internationally for an apparent lack of due process.
AP
