Day: March 15, 2011

No fresh terror fears after Male’ bombing arrest, says President’s Office

The government has said it will not amend national security measures after police last week arrested a Maldivian man suspected of involvement in a bomb attack in Male’s Sultan Park back in 2007 upon his return to the country.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that Maldivian national Iqbal Mohamed had been arrested on arrival at Male’ International Airport from Pakistan, after authorities had been alerted of his movements by the International Police Organisation Interpol.

However, the President’s Office claimed that the arrest did not impact current security practices in relation to possible wider terrorist threats in the country.

The arrest was made in connection with a homemade bomb attack in Male’ in 2007, where a device built from components such as a gas cylinder, a washing machine motor and a mobile phone exploded injuring 12 tourists – several seriously.

Shiyam told Minivan News today that although Iqbal Mohamed was believed to have been in Pakistan at the time of the bombing, he had been wanted by police as part of their ongoing investigations into the 2007 attack due to an alleged role in the plan.

“He [Mohamed] is in custody right now,” added Shiyam, who claimed the Maldives Police Service was now waiting for the Prosecutor General to present a case against the suspect ahead of any potential trial in the Maldives.

“We really don’t why has had travelled back to the Maldives, but we have now arrested him.”

Mohamed, who is the subject of a red notice issued by Interpol, drew police attention after Interpol’s Major Events Support Team (IMEST), currently operating in Sri Lanka during the Cricket World Cup, identified the suspect as he was traveling through the country back to the Maldives.

According to Interpol, red notices are a system used to keep the 188 nations that make up its members informed of arrest warrants issued by judicial authorities. Although the notices are not formal arrest warrants, the organisation said that they are used to identify individuals wanted for crimes under a national jurisdiction.

Security focus

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said that he did not believe Iqbal’s return raised concerns about further potential attacks in the country.

He claimed that the country’s National Security Advisor had recently addressed the issue of religious fundamentalists after a request from the country’s Immigration Commissioner and found no additional concerns.

Zuhair added that the advisor had concluded that there was not thought to be any terror cells operating within the Maldives and claimed there was no need to further heighten national security against such threats.

The press secretary claimed that rather than facing possible arrest in a foreign country, Iqbal had perhaps returned to face more lenient sentencing that he claimed would be offered by the Maldives’ legal system.

After the attacks took place, 10 Maldivians and two foreigners were arrested in connection with the case. By December 2007, three men confessed to having roles in the bombing in court and were sentenced to 15 years prison.

According to the Attorney General’s office at the time, sixteen men had been charged under the terrorism act in relation to the Sultan Park bombing, including ten fugitives believed to be in Pakistan.

In August last year, the government had announced that it would commute the sentences of two of the three convicted terrorists found guilty of being responsible for the bombings under the Clemency Act.

The two men had their sentences changed from incarceration to three year suspended sentences under strict observation.

By comparison, Zuhair pointed to the case of nine Maldivian nationals that were arrested back in 2009 after allegedly being found carrying weapons near the Pakistani-Afghan border, who were facing strict punishments for their alleged offences.

Last April, as the Maldives and India was working on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding joint counter-terrorism measures, press reports in the country began surfacing claiming that concerns had grown over the likelihood that groups like Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba may have a foothold in the country.

The claims have not been officially confirmed and no serious attacks have occurred since the 2007 bombing.

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Police arrest suspected drug lord after search finds 100 grams of narcotics

Police have today announced the capture of a suspected drug lord ‘’who had been trafficking a wide range of substances’’ after claiming to have found 100 grams of narcotics on the individual.

Police identified the suspect as 50 year-old Maldivian Mohamed Rasheed Abdul Bagir, who was arrested on 12 March at about 4:00pm.

Superintendent Ahmed Jinah, head of the police’s Drug Enforcement Department, today told media that the suspect had been followed by the force’s Drug Intelligence department.  He claimed that officers moved to arrest him they were certain he was in possession of illegal drugs.

Jinah stated that 100 grams of narcotics were discovered in Bagir’s trouser’s pocket as he was searched.

In 2007, Bagir was accused of assisting a Pakistani named Mansoor Hussein, who was arrested while attempting to traffic 8 kilograms of illegal drugs in to the Maldives, according to Jinah.

The police claimed that during their investigation into the case, Mansoor confessed that Bagir assisted him.

Bagir’s case was not sent to the court then, Jinah said, because the Prosecutor General’s Office said there was not enough evidence to charge him.

Jinah told the media that it was believed that Bagir have direct links to a wide drug network in Pakistan that produces and export illegal narcotics to various countries.

Jinah alleged that he [Bagir] had been importing drugs to the Maldives as a wide commercial business.

The case comes as politicians such as President Mohamed Nasheed continue to highlights drug abuse as a major challenge to the country’s law enforcement agencies.

In February, police announced that they had made a number of successful crackdowns on drug use in the country, claiming to have captured a large haul of narcotics with a street value totaling thousands of US Dollars.

Back in November 2010, Minivan News also reported that two Maldivian nationals have been arrested in Trivandrum Airport in India for allegedly trying to traffic drugs to the Maldives smuggled into the baggage of a 14 year-old passenger.

Earlier during the year in September, Maldivian police said they had arrested 23 people suspected of having links with the country’s drug trade that led to 36 separate cases being sent to the Prosecutor General’s office.

These allegations follow a number of high profile drug seizures made by Maldives Customs Services during the last two years from areas such as Trivandrum in India, where  12 separate attempts at transporting illegal narcotics were recorded.  These attempts saw a cache of drugs seized totaling 12.56 kilograms with a street value of Rf 11 million – uncovered during 2009 alone.

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Cabinet holds moment of silence for Japan quake victims

President Mohamed Nasheed and his cabinet today at the beginning of the cabinet meeting held a minute of silence for victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

”Japan has had a close relationships with the Maldivian for a long time,” said the President before the minute of silence, according to the President’s Office. ”All the Maldivians are today sharing this grief of Japan, many citizens of Japan are today faced with physical and health issues.”

”Japan has assisted the Maldives in exporting Maldivian fish, provided equipment for the former Television Maldives (TVM), have conducted many training sessions, helped construct hundreds of schools, assisted in providing electricity to the islands, provide flour constantly, and provided assistance in the sports field and the customs laboratory,” said President Nasheed.

Japan was also responsible for building the sea wall around Male’, which protected the capital from the impact of the 2004 tsunami, and has also built many of the city’s roads.

The President said the moment of silence was a symbol representing the grief of many Maldivians at the natural disaster in Japan.

The President’s Office has recently said that it will provide Japan with 1,800 cases of Maldivian tuna – amounting to 86,400 cans – as ”emergency disaster supplies” for victims of the earthquake and tsunami that has ravaged the country and its infrastructure. Authorities predict that the death toll could reach as high as 10,000.

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Maldives calls for support of Libyan rebels, rebels request air strikes

A delegation of Libyan rebels from the Transitional National Council have met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and called for Western powers to assassinate the country’s President, Muammar Gaddafi.

A spokesperson for the Benghazi-based rebels, Mustafa Gheriani, told media in Paris on Monday that the group wanted “a no-fly zone, we want tactical strikes against those tanks and rockets that are being used against us, and we want a strike against Gaddafi’s compound,” said Gheriani. “This is the message from our delegation in Europe.”

Other rebel leaders in France include Abdul-Jalil, previously Gadaffi’s justice minister who resigned in protest against “excessive use of force” against demonstrators, Abdel-Hafiz Ghoqa, a representative for Benghazi and a human-rights lawyer, and Omar Al Hariri, a former general now in charge of the rebellion’s military affairs who was responsible for teaching Gadaffi to drive.

Gaddafi’s forces, including foreign mercenaries and the airforce, have pushed the Libyan rebels back to the town of Ajdarbia, the last occupied town before the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

Early gains by the rebels saw them capture key oil centres such as Ras Lanuf in the confusion as elements of the regime’s military defected. However now the government’s forces have stabilised and begun to push back, the disorganised and ill-disciplined rebel fighters have been unable to contend with Gaddafi’s tanks and apparent enthusiasm to use air-strikes against his own population.

Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed today joined earlier calls from the Arab League for the UN Security Council to fulfill its obligations and impose a no-fly zone in Libya.

“Through its own actions, the Gadaffi regime has lost its legitimacy and right to govern,” President Nasheed said.

“Following the Gaddafi regime’s loss of legitimacy, at the present time the Transitional National Council has emerged as the only legitimate body representing the aspirations of the Libyan people. The international community, led by the UN, must therefore immediately open channels of communication with the Transitional National Council.”

Imposing a no-fly-zone would most likely involve US intervention under the banner of NATO. US generals, cautious given the country’s controversial history of intervention in the region, have pointed out that policing the no-fly zone would require strikes against Libyan surface-to-air weapon systems and amount to military intervention.

Prior to the escalation of the conflict President Mohamed Nasheed called for the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Libya, amid a wave of unrest against the region’s assorted dictators.
Yesterday, Saudi Arabia sent troops into Bahrain to halt an uprising of the country’s Shia Muslim majority against the Sunni-elite. The opposition in Bahrain has denounced the move as an act of war that could trigger further waves of strife in the region.
“We consider the entry of Saudi Arabia or other Gulf forces into the Kingdom of Bahrain’s air, sea or land territories a blatant occupation,” Bahrain’s Shia Wefaq party said in a statement.

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Nine year-old raises Rf5200 for Villingilli orphanage at birthday party

As the setting sun cast a warm glow over Villingili, dozens of passengers got down from the ferry and made their way to their destination. For one little girl who was accompanied by her aunt, the ferry ride was part of an extraordinary journey she was making.

Mariyam Nishfa Faid, 9, had come to Villingili to visit the Children’s Shelter, the beneficiary of the Mf 5200 (US$404) fund that she had raised at her birthday party.

“I have books and toys, all I need really,” says a beaming Nishfa. “I have enough for now.”

Her tone, if matter of fact, seems oblivious to how astonishing her words are, in a world where the norm is for children to want more toys and more books.

Birth of an idea

Nishfa is an avid reader; her room has two shelves full of books. Her friends and family supports her interest by gifting her books.

“Mum gave me a book ‘Chicken soup for the soul for kids’ last December,” she says. A compilation of mostly true stories, a month later she would go on to read a story that would have a profound effect on her.

“It’s called ‘helping hungry kids’, a story about helping kids in need in Africa. I wanted to help so I asked my mum how I could do it.”

Her mother suggested she talk with her aunt Aiminath Naaz who had done volunteer work in Africa, “and she suggested that I could help the kids closer to home.”

Nishfa also states sweetly that since the money she raised is in Maldivian rufiyaa “it won’t go far in Africa.”

A party with a difference

Nishfa discussed with her family on how to raise funds, eventually deciding to take the opportunity of her birthday party to do so.

“I used to play football in the boys team in my school Jamaaludeen,” says Nishfa, explaining that she had to stop the sport since she broke her arm a while back. The initial idea was to have a party with a sports theme.

“We decided to do it simpler, so that nobody had to buy any jerseys. Invitees didn’t have to wear their best dress; they just had to wear a nice dress and come.”

Instead of bringing her gifts of toys and books, she asked them to bring money for the Children’s Shelter. She is immensely proud of the amount she raised and added the contents of her piggy bank to the donation. As for her party, “it was very good.”

Inspiring others

A warm welcome awaited Nishfa at the shelter, with the staff mentioning how they had heard of her on TV also. The shelter houses 54 kids up to the age of 19. The children are looked after around the clock by 25 caregivers working in shifts.

Nishfa seems a bit overwhelmed after the visit, simply stating “I loved the babies.” Her plans include visiting the orphanage with her aunt once a week if possible, to read stories to the kids. Asked if her friends shared her concerns she seems almost perplexed when she says only a few do. However she is already inspiring others who share her concerns.

Fellow Jamaaludeen student Dhiraya Hassan, 8, donated to the fund at Nishfa’s party. Her mother, Mirufath Faiz, says she was very happy with the idea of donating instead of taking toys.

“Dhiraya also has the same mind-set as Nishfa, she donated the collection of coins in her piggy bank for the Pakistan relief fund.”

Dhiraya has announced to her parents that she wants to help other kids as well, and as a first step, has borrowed the Chicken Soup book from Nishfa.

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WHO preparing advisory statement on Japanese nuclear crisis

The Health Ministry is considering possible action in the event of a reactor explosion in a Japanese nuclear power plant damaged by the recent earthquake and resultant tsunami.

Permanent Secretary at the Maldivian Health Ministry Geela Ali told Haveeru that the World Health Organisation (WHO) was preparing to issue an advisory statement on the potential risks and preventative measures in the event of radioactive fallout. Radioactive particles released in an explosion can potentially travel hundreds of miles.

Japanese authorities have evaculated residents within 20 kilometres of the Fukushima power plant, and ordered those within 30 kilometres to remain indoors and seal doors and windows. Authorities have also implemented a no-fly zone in a 30 kilometre radius.

The US Seventh Fleet has meanwhile moved its ships away from Japan despite already being 100 miles offshore, after the USS Ronald Reagan detected that its crew had been exposed to radiation equivalent to one month of normal background radiation.

Radiation levels around the plant are rising and authorities have ordered all but 50 staff to leave the plant. Three hydrogen explosions over the last four days have increased the risk of nuclear fuel becoming exposed to air, however the Tokyo Electric Company has been using seawater to cool the four damaged reactors.

“This is not a serious public health issue at the moment,” Secretary of the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, Malcolm Crick, told news agency Reuters.

“It won’t be anything like Chernobyl. There the reactor was operating at full power when it exploded and it had no containment.”

That such a leak could happen in Japan, with the country’s high construction standards and rigourous attention to protocol for its nuclear industry, has prompted a number of countries to review their use of nuclear power, which has been touted as a proven alternative to fossil fuels for large-scale power generation.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a review of the country’s 20 reactors, most of which are located along the coastline, while the Swiss government suspended all plans to replace and build nuclear reactors. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said ambitious plans to build dozens of nuclear power stations would continue.

So far Japan has confirmed 2,414 people dead in the tsunami disaster and 3,118 missing, while the final toll is expected to reach 10,000.

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Fuvamulah City Council Bill and Thalassemia Control Bill sent to committee

The Majlis yesterday sent the Thalassemia Control Bill and Fuvamulah City Council Bill to a parliamentary committee for review.

The Thalassemia Bill was passed last year and was sent to President Mohamed Nasheed for ratification.  However, Nasheed vetoed the Bill and recommended that parliament reconsider some articles in it.

In light of this request, the president sent a letter on the Thalassemia bill to parliament that stated that the Attorney General had identified conflicting articles in the bill relating to providing health services such as a centre to additionally help combat blood disease.

According to the letter, article 6[a] of the Bill states that a  “Thalassemia and other hemoglobinopathies Centre shall be established, whilst article 6[b] states that after this centre is established, the National Thalassemia Centre will be abolished,” the President wrote.

‘’National Thalassemia Centre is operated by Male’ Health Corporation Services Limited and lawfully the government has no authority to take a premises belonging to a company.”

Most of the opposition MPs in the parliament regretted that the president had refused to ratify the Thalassemia Control Bill claiming that Nasheed would never ratify a bill that was designed to generate potential benefit for the citizens.

‘’Today we are seeing the Thalassemia Control Bill, which was passed with a high majority of the parliament being vetoed,’’ said main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Abdulla Mausoom as well as Dhivehi Qaumy Party (DQP) Deputy leader and MP Riyaz Rasheed in parliament.

The parliamentary session became heated as MPs debated the bill, with the Majlis  Speaker asking Maafannu-South MP Ibrahim Rasheed to leave the parliament chamber.

The session was then terminated until he left.

Out of the present 67 MPs, 65 voted to send the Bill to Social Issues committee.

After the break, the Fuvamulah City Council Bill was also scheduled, but MPs did not debate it.  Instead, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Shifaq Mufeeq who presented the Bill was given the opportunity to say his last words on the legislation before it went to a vote.

Shifaq said that he presented the bill in October last year hoping that  it would get passed before the Local Councils Elections in February 2011.

The speaker then called for a vote to decide whether the parliament would accept the bill.

Out of 67 MPs present, 53 voted to accept it and 11 did not vote either way.

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