Haveeru stands by Maldivian terrorist report despite Interpol denial

Haveeru has stood by a report it published claiming Interpol had confirmed that two Maldivian nationals were being sought as part of an alleged plot to attack the 2011 Cricket World Cup, despite an outright denial by the international police organisation that such an investigation has taken place.

In an article appearing on the daily newspaper’s website, Haveeru published an Interpol statement calling for corrections to a report entitled “Interpol on the hunt for two Maldivians involved in planning Cricket World Cup attack”, which the organisation alleged has “serious inaccuracies”.  The Interpol statement was followed by a response from the author of the original article standing by the claims.

Both Interpol and the Maldives’ National Security Advisor yesterday released statements that said that there had been no arrests or investigations over the involvement of any Maldivian nationals in an alleged plot to strike the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup event taking place in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Haveeru today responded that it was committed to the highest journalistic standards in its investigative reporting and had sought to act in the public interest without compromising any potential ongoing investigations.

“However, Haveeru Daily wishes to inform those concerned that our Colombo Correspondent, who was also a Senior Defence Correspondent for a leading Sri Lankan national English weekly, stands by his report,” the paper stated.

“Due to the highly sensitive nature of the investigations carried out up to now, our writer is not in a position to reveal more intricate details of the probes due to reasons more fully enumerated hereinafter. However, as and when investigations unfold, Haveeru Daily will reveal further details of these investigations in due course.”

The original Haveeru report can be read here.