Category: News in Brief

Vice President meets with Saudi Fund and IBD

As part of his ongoing visit to Saudi Arabia, Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed met with Deputy Chairman of Saudi Fund for Development Dr Yusuf Al-Bassam on 21 March.

Dr Waheed briefed Dr Al-Bassam on the upcoming Donor Conference and asked for the participation of the Saudi Fund.

Dr Al-Bassam assured the vice president of the assistance of the Saudi Fund and added the Fund would also assist the government in its tsunami housing projects.

Dr Waheed met with the President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al-Madani at the IDB headquarters yesterday.

He then met with senior officials of the IBD Group to discuss the Donor Conference and the introduction of Islamic banking in the Maldives.

The IBD assured their participation in the Donor Conference and said they were willing to work with the government in realising its key development areas.

Vice President Waheed also visited Mecca and performed Umra.

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Boy arrested with 53 packets of suspected drugs

Police have arrested a boy under the age of 18 for carrying 53 packets of suspected narcotics in Fuvamula.

Police received information that a person was trying to carry drugs from Addu to Fuvamulah and raided the harbor area, arresting the boy at 3:00pm.

Fuvamulah police station and the drug enforcement unit are now investigating the case.

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Vice President meets Saudi Crown Prince and members of RCCI

As part of his official visit to Saudi Arabia, Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed met with the Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz.

Vice President Waheed said the Maldives and Saudi Arabia had always had close bilateral ties, and they discussed ways of improving relations between the countries.

Dr Waheed briefed the Crown Prince on the upcoming Donor Conference and asked the Saudi government to participate.

The Crown Prince assured Vice President Waheed that his country would participate in the conference and would continue to assist the Maldives.

Dr Waheed then met with the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI).

The meeting was hosted by Chairman of RCCI Dr Abdulrahman bin Ali Al-Jeraisi.

Vice President Waheed briefed the RCCI on the conference and said Maldives was specifically looking for investors in the areas of housing, infrastructure, utilities and renewable energy.

Saudi Minister of State for Finance and Treasury Ahmed As-ad was also present at the meeting and said it was important to establish a trade link between the two countries.

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Germany to assist in training Maldives police

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Ahmed Shaheed has said Germany will assist the Maldives with police training, reports Miadhu.

This decision has been made after President Mohamed Nasheed’s visit to Germany, where he met with Chief Director of German Police on 9 March to seek assistance in training and building a qualified police force in the Maldives.

Dr Shaheed said the training would begin soon and will train the police on working in a democratic society.

The project will be sponsored by Germany and conducted in the Maldives.

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Maldives studying the extension of its continental shelf

The Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) is working on the possibility of extending the Maldives’ continental shelf, reports Miadhu.

Major Mohamed Ibrahim said the Maldives had to make its submission to the UN Commission on Continental Shelf on the findings of its studies by 7 September 2010.

He said a study had already been prepared with assistance from the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Major Ibrahim said the technical team had studied the Indian Ocean and the Maldives since the 1970s.

He also noted the difficulty of finding experts to conduct the studies.

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Zuhair says government is not trying to stop religious lectures

Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair has said that the government does not prevent any authorised scholar from lecturing the public on religious matters, reports Miadhu.

There had been reports of the government putting pressure on Sheikh Ilyas Hussain so he would not speak at a special ceremony hosted by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) on the anniversary of the Maldives’ conversion to Islam.

Zuhair said it was not the government’s policy to stop any licensed sheikh from speaking and they were not trying to stop Ilyas from speaking at the ceremony.

According to Miadhu, both Sheikh Ilyas and a local religious website noorulislam.net had said the government was refusing to allow Ilyas from lecturing at the ceremony.

The Adhaalath Party said there were political reasons behind the cancellation of the Sheikh’s lecture.

Licenses to deliver religious lectures are issued and cancelled by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.

Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr Majeed said his ministry had not cancelled Ilyas’ license and it had not even been proposed.

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Galana to supply 1.02 million barrels of jet fuel

Galana Petroleum has won a tender to supply 1.02 million barrels of aviation fuel to the Maldives, reports Reuters.

The deal with the Middle Eastern petroleum company will see the Maldives paying a “premium” price of $3.59 a barrel, Reuters reported.

Other potential suppliers included the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) and European firm Vitol.

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Petrol bombs and weapons found in Gan

Members of Gan Police Station and Fonadhoo Police Station found petrol bombs and weapons in the Mukurimagu Ward of Laamu Gan during a special operation, reports Miadhu.

The police received reports of the weapons at 3:15am and found them near the Aquveni area of Mukurimagu Ward.

The weapons included petrol bombs, knives, steel pipes and wooden planks. Police said these items would most likely have been used as weapons for assault.

No suspects have yet been arrested or interrogated. Gan Police Station is investigating the matter further.

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Sheikh Fareed claims judges are bribed

Sheikh Ibrahim Fareed has called upon judges to be fair when issuing sentences, reports Miadhu.

During a lecture entitled ‘To Whom Hellfire is Calling’, held on Friday night at the artificial beach, Sheikh Fareed alleged some judges were being bribed and ruling against their conscience despite overwhelming evidence.

Sheikh Fareed said that without a fair judiciary many social illnesses would be inflicted on society, which would result in punishment from God.

Sheikh Fareed also said talking about politics and ‘wasting time’ were useless, and that the time should be used for productive causes.

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