Day: March 26, 2011

Maldives finishes top of AFC Challenge Cup group after Tajikistan draw

The Maldives’ national football team has inched past rivals Tajikistan to finish top of their qualifying group for next year’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup finals on the basis of goal difference following a 0-0 draw between the two nations in Male’ yesterday.

After winning the opening two qualifying matches in Group C, which have all been hosted this week at the national stadium in Male’, a goalless draw with second place Tajikistan was enough for the Maldives to finish leaders of their group after scoring a higher number of goals.

According to the AFC table, in subtracting the number of goals conceded to those scored, the Maldives finished above its second place rival 5-4.

However, the draw between the top two teams of group C proved to be a very different game to the day’s other match held in Male’; where Cambodia finished at the bottom of their respective qualifying table after losing to Kyrgyzstan 4-3.

Kyrgyzstan led the match from just five minutes in as Aziz Sydykov put them ahead before Kouch Sokumpheak responded with an equaliser by the 39th minute of the game. Cambodia still finished the half a goal down though after Rustem Usanov scored in stoppage time.

Cambodia’s Sokumpheak responded once again to open the scoring in the second half to ensure the game remained 2-2 up until ten minutes before the final whistle.

Cholponbek Esenkul Uulu allowed Kyrgyzstan to once again take the lead in the 80th minute before scoring his second of the match five minutes later to put the score line at 4-2.

With just a minute to go until the final whistle, Cambodia’s Sok Rithy scored the team’s third goal of the match, but the effort wasn’t enough to prevent a third defeat out of the three qualifying games the team has played in Male’ this week.

With the qualifiers now concluded, the Maldives will compete with seven other nations including India, Turkmenistan and fellow Group C rival Tajikistan in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup. A host nation has not yet been selected for the tournament but is expected to be drawn from among one of the eight finalists under AFC rules.

The last AFC Challenge Cup tournament was held in Sri Lanka during February 2010 and won by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

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Value chain cooperatives to be formed for fisheries and agriculture

The Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture has decided to form value chain cooperatives to sell fisheries and agriculture products.

A public announcement by the ministry last week invited interested parties to submit proposals before April 15. The programme is to be undertaken with loan assistance from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

According to the announcement, the cooperative will offer information and training to women and low-income farmers to maintain quality as well as facilitate loans for equipment and capital investments.

Additionally, the cooperative will help to seek long-term business agreements with both local and international buyers.

“The project will help the cooperative to create an original and competitive brand in the market that would symbolise high quality and freshness,” reads the announcement.

While the government will have a stake in the cooperative in the beginning, its shares are to be transferred to members of the cooperative at the end of the project.

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Criminal court releases suspect in alleged World Cup terror plot

The Maldives Police Service says it has no knowledge of claims made in international media that a Maldivian national was been arrested for alleged involvement in a planned terrorist attack on the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup currently being held in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India.

A spokesperson for the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) told Minivan News that it was unable to comment on allegations relating to security in another country, while a police official said that they had no information that a Maldivian was involved in any terrorism offences linked to the event and would not comment further on the matter.

According to the Times of India newspaper, Maldivian national Iqbal Mohamed, whom Minivan News reported earlier this month had been taken into custody at Male’ International Airport over his suspected involvement in the 2007 Sultans Park bombing in Male’, was arrested on suspicion of trying to attack this year’s Cricket World Cup event.

Police spokesperson Lance-Corporal Abdul Majeed Moosa confirmed to Minivan News today that the Criminal Court yesterday refused to extend Iqbal’s detention and ordered his release.

Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed said he would provide more information on the decision when staff returned to the office.

The Times has meanwhile reported that that Iqbal was suspected to have been part of plans to strike the cricket World Cup.

“A ‘terrorist’ suspected of planning to attack the cricket World Cup has been arrested after help from authorities across South Asia including in Pakistan,” the Times of India wrote, citing International Police Organisation Interpol’s Chief Ronald Noble.

According to Noble, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Maldivian authorities had worked together to identify, locate and arrest a “terrorist” on his way to the Maldives from Karachi on the grounds of “criminal intent”.

The arrest was made amidst a strict security crackdown in the region during the World Cup, with Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik claiming that fears existed of a major unspecified terrorist attack at the high-profile event.

“There was a serious attempt of an act of terrorism during this (World Cup),” said Malik.

According to the Times of India report, local police authorities have already issued a general alert ahead of the tournament’s final match scheduled for April 2 in the city of Mumbai, while Australia was said to have yesterday updated a travel advisory for its citizens calling for a “high degree of caution” for anyone in the region during the event.

Speaking to Minivan News on 15 March, Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that Iqbal Mohamed had been arrested on arrival at Male’ International Airport from Pakistan earlier in the month, after regional authorities had alerted their Maldivian counterparts of his movements.

The arrest, according to Shiyam, was made in connection to an 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 at the time that although Iqbal Mohamed was believed to have been in Pakistan at the time of the Male’ attack, he had been wanted by police as part of their ongoing investigations into the 2007 incident due to an alleged role in the plan.

The sub inspector claimed that the Maldives Police Service was waiting for the Prosecutor General to present a case against the suspect ahead of any potential trial in the Maldives and had not been aware of any motivation for his return to the country.

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

Mohamed was himself the subject of a red notice issued by Interpol, which was said to have drawn police attention after Interpol’s Major Events Support Team (IMEST) operating in Sri Lanka during the Cricket World Cup identified the suspect as he was travelling 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.

Following Moahmed’s arrest, Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said that he did not believe the suspect’s return to the Maldives 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.

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Dr Didi launches campaign for MDP top post

Former Fisheries Minister Dr Ibrahim Didi launched his campaign for the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) presidency Friday night at the party’s ‘Haruge’ (camp) in Male’.

According to Haveeru, Didi proposed the creation of permanent committees as required by party regulations as well as a mechanism to oversee the implementation of the MDP Manifesto.

In the absence of such activities, said Didi, the party would not have “anything much to sell to the people” in the next election.

Setting himself apart from his opponent in the MDP internal election, Didi claimed that unlike acting MDP President Ibrahim Hussein Zaki, he did not have “one iota of experience in the past 30 years of brutal and dictatorial rule.”

Before the formation of MDP and the reform movement, Zaki had been a high-profile minister in former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s cabinet.

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JSC appoints Judge Naeem to Juvenile Court as punishment

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has appointed Judge Mohamed Naeem – who is currently a Civil Court Judge – to the Juvenile Court to punish him for disobeying the decision of a superior court.

The decision to transfer Naeem to the Juvenile Court was made during a meeting of the JSC held last Thursday, the commission said in a statement.

‘’The commission decided to do so as an action taken against Judge Mohamed Naeem for he has refused to conduct trials of cases concerning the state before the parliament gives consent to the [then] Attorney General [Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad],’’ reads the statement.

The JSC said that the case was investigated by the sub-committee formed to recommend disciplinary measures against judges.

Last Monday, the JSC announced that it had formed a subcommittee to investigate complaints about judges, indicating that its first subject was Civil Court Judge Naeem. This is the first case against a judge the JSC has conducted in more than a year.

The investigation of Naeem came after he reportedly declaring during the first hearing of a case filed against the state that he would not hear cases involving the state before parliament approved the reappointment of former Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad.

Naeem’s decision was in defiance of precedent set by both a majority of Civil Court judges as well as the High Court, which had ruled that such cases could be heard before the AG received parliamentary consent.

The very same day parliament rejected for a second time Dr Sawad’s reappointment.

According to the JSC, the committee – which includes JSC Chair and Supreme Court Justice Adam Mohamed Abdulla, Judge Abdulla Didi and General Public Member Shuaib Abdurahman – was established under the Judges Act and that its first scheduled task was selected by a vote taken among its members.

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PA Deputy Leader takes DRP Leader to court

Minority opposition People’s Alliance (PA) Deputy Leader Ahmed Nazim has sued coalition partner main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party’s (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali to recover more than Rf2 million (US$155,600) allegedly owed to him.

According to Haveeru, Thasmeen’s lawyer argued at the Civil Court hearing on Thursday that Nazim’s claim was unclear as a number of financial transactions occurred between the pair during the presidential and parliamentary elections, requesting that the court ask Nazim to specify how the loan was given as well as the terms agreed upon for repayment.

After Nazim’s lawyer produced a document with Thasmeen’s signature, Judge Hathif Hilmy pointed out that the purported loan agreement had a reference number and it was therefore reasonable to expect Thasmeen to be aware of the details of the amount in question.

The judge adjourned the hearing after ordering Thasmeen’s lawyer to respond to the claim at the next court date.

Deputy Speaker Nazim is suing Majority Leader Thasmeen to recover Rf1.92 million (US$149,400) allegedly unpaid from a loan worth Rf2.55 million (US$200,000) along with Rf100,000 (US$7,782) incurred as lawyer’s fees.

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Government to refund harbour plot buyers

The government will refund buyers of four plots from the southwest harbour after the Civil Court ruled earlier this month that the sales were illegal, Male’ Mayor “Sarangu” Adam Manik told local media yesterday.

Adam Manik however revealed that the Attorney General’s Office will appeal the Civil Court’s ruling, which held that President Mohamed Nasheed’s decision to auction off 50,000 square feet of land from the harbour area was made illegally after the move was challenged at court by the opposition alliance.

The Civil Court decision came after the buyers made advance payments of 10 percent of the total amount due.

Should the High Court overrule the lower court decision, said the Mayor, the City Council will resume the project and offer the previous auction winners the same plot again.

Four out of eleven plots auctioned last year had been sold before the court ruling – two 2,000 square feet plots were bought for Rf27 million by SunFront, a 5,000 square feet plot was bought by BHM Traders owner Hussein Moosa while resort company Universal bought a 7,500 square feet plot for Rf46.5 million.

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Over 100 copies of Quran found at dump site

Over 100 copies of the Holy Quran were collected during the past three months from the garbage dump site by a citizen of Male’, reports MNBC One.

Most of the Quran copies found by Ahmed Shareef were unused and brand new, he said.

Shareef said that he donated one-third of the books to the Islamic Ministry while the rest were in his possession for safekeeping.

A media official from the Islamic Ministry told MNBC One that a public announcement had been made twice before urging people to drop used copies at the ministry for proper and respectful disposal.

He added that the ministry was assisted by the Maldives National Defence Force in the disposal process.

MNBC One meanwhile warns that “a wave of fire” struck Turkey in 1998 after a similar incident of disrespecting the Quran occurred in the country.

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Maldives to go dark for Earth Hour

The Maldives is participating in Earth Hour this evening and will turning off all non-essential lights and electrical appliances from 8:30pm-9:30pm.

In his weekly radio address, President Nasheed said Earth Hour was an attempt to raise awareness about climate change and encourage people to change their habits in a more environmentally friendly way.

¨Earth Hour¨ is global event marked by World Wildlife Fund for Nature on the last Saturday of March every year, asking everyone to turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for an hour, to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change.

President Nasheed also paid tribute to the Maldivian national football team for winning the first two games of the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers played in Malé last week to qualify to the AFC Challenge Cup to be held next year.

Hailing the national team´s first ever qualification to the AFC Challenge Cup as pride and glory for the country, he congratulated the national team.

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