Tag: sri lanka

Maldives, India and Sri Lanka conduct joint naval exercises

The Maldives, India, and Sri Lanka are to hold joint naval exercises over the next five days, according to the official website of the Sri Lankan Navy. The exercises, labelled “DOSTI – XI”, will be carried out in Maldivian waters.

The operations are being caried out with the aim of “strengthening bonds of friendship and enhancing mutual operational capability and cooperation. The exercise will focus on Maritime Search and Rescue, Marine Pollution Response and Boarding Operations,” the website says.

“Due to its geo-strategic significance, it is important for the Coast Guards of the three friendly countries to ensure the safety and security of the Indian Ocean for all sea-farers. The mutually beneficial exercise, therefore, will pay the way for launching coordinated efforts in times of crisis,” the site continues.

Maldives’ Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim visited India at the start of this month to discuss opportunities for greater military cooperation between the two South Asian nations.

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Former President Gayoom meets with Sri Lankan President

Former President of the Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayoom met with the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday to discuss the country’s bilateral ties.

Gayoom expressed his support for President Waheed’s recent pledge to hold elections in July 2013. The former president also highlighted the need for Sri Lankan investment in the Maldivian economy, reports Haveeru.

Rajapaksa was reported to have been told of the need for a peaceful environment in which President Waheed’s administration could continue to develop the country.

The Sri Lankan President thanked the Maldivian government for its recent support for the country at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Gayoom’s Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) won its first official seat in parliament last weekend after its candidate won the Thimirafushi by-election. All other PPM supporters in the Majlis have been required to stand as independents since the party was formed in October 2011.

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Sri Lankan vessel apprehended within EEZ

A Sri Lankan vessel was apprehended yesterday within the Maldives’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) has confirmed.

The ship was first spotted by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) 26 nautical miles from Addu Atoll yesterday, before being reported to police.

The coastguard eventually apprehended the vessel around 35 nautical miles from Addu Atoll, where it is today being brought.

This is the third time that foreign ships have entered Maldivian territorial waters in recent weeks. Just over two weeks ago, a Bolivian vessel on route to Iran was hijacked  by Somali pirates, the first such attack to take place within Maldivian waters.

One week later, the coast guard was again dispatched after an unidentified vessel was spotted 77 miles from Alif Alif Atoll.

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Sri Lankan diplomats make first Maldives visit since power transfer

Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister Professor G L Peiris has become the first official from the country to travel to the Maldives since the controversial transfer of power that saw President Mohamed Waheed Hassan take office in February.

The External Affairs Minister was in Male’ as part of a four-day visit to hold bilateral talks with his Maldivian counterpart, Dr Abdul Samad Abdullah.

During the talks, Professor Peiris pledged ongoing support and assistance to developments in the Maldives. Meanwhile, Maldives Foreign Minister Abdul Samad Abdullah reiterated the importance of contributions made by Sri Lanka relating to socio-economic developments in the Maldives.  Samad welcomed contributions to the development of  “human resources” in particular, the Ceylon Daily News reported.

“The talks were also attended by the Foreign Affairs State Minister Hassan Saeed Hussain, Foreign Secretary Mohamed Naseer, MP Sajin De Vass Gunawardena, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Maldives Dickson Dela and senior official of the Sri Lankan delegation,” the newspaper added.

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Obama nominates new ambassador to Maldives

Michelle J Sison has been nominated as the new Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. President Obama made the announcement as part of a series of administrative appointments that included the appointment of Brett McGurk as Ambassador to Iraq.

“Our nation will be greatly served by the talent and expertise these individuals bring to their new roles.  I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this Administration, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead,” said President Obama.

Sison, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, is currently the Assistant Chief of Mission for Law Enforcement and Rule of Law Assistance in Iraq. She also served as US Ambassador to Lebanon between 2008 and 2010.

Sison will replace Patricia Butenis who has served in the same position since 2009.

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MDP dismisses reports of referendum, reiterates call for Waheed’s resignation

The MDP have refuted claims within some local media that former President Mohamed Nasheed is seeking a public referendum over the legitimacy of the curent government headed by Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan.

While the constitution does grant the President and the Majlis to call public referendums on “issues of national importance”, MDP spokesperson Hamed Abdul Ghafoor assured Minivan News that this was not the MDP’s current policy and that reports suggesting otherwise were inaccurate.

Speaking last night at the conclusion of a short visit to Sri Lanka, Nasheed reiterated calls for President Waheed to step down as the best solution to the constitutional impasse in the country that has seen ongoing protests and calls from international bodies such as the Commonwealth for early elections.

“If the present President steps down immediately, the Speaker of Parliament can take over, and hold an election within two months,” said Nasheed.

The Maldivian Democratic Party’s calls for an early election after what it saw as the illegitimate removal of Nasheed have been met with sympathetic noises from the current President, who has repeatedly claimed powerlessness to the election date bring forward by any more than 120 days.

Instead he has pointed towards the People’s Majlis as the institution capable of amending the constitution. Additionally, it has been pointed out that a constitutional amendment would be necessary to begin a new five-year term after any early poll – the alternative being to have two elections in 18 months.

The MDP has been calling for an early election since Nasheed’s controversial “resignation” from office. Nasheed claims he was forced to resign under duress as part of a coup d’etat”, sponsored by mutinous elements of the police and military alongside opposition politicians and businessmen.

Mirroring Nasheed’s visit to Sri Lanka, Dunya Maumoon, daughter of former President Maumoon Gayoom, and current State Minister for foreign affairs, made clear the difficulty of the ”catch-22” situation when she spoke with the Sunday Times.

“The MDP says they are not going to let anything proceed unless a date is given for an election. We are adamant that they don’t bully us by holding on to that election date,” explained Dunya.

On Nasheed’s first trip abroad since leaving office, he courted senior diplomats and the press in Colombo in order to build pressure on the current government to accede to the global demands for early elections.

Alternatives?

Nasheed’s suggestion comes at a time when alternative methods to resolve the impasse continue to falter. The government was reported yesterday to have refused to continue dialogue with the MDP whilst it carried out what it deemed “terrorist” attacks.

President’s Office Spokesan Abbas Adil Riza believed that some of Nasheed’s discussions whilst in Colombo were intended to build pressure on the government to release those arrested during recent unrest.

“MDP is trying to label the arrested as political prisoners. But the government will not agree to discussions if the MDP preconditions the release of the perpetrators arrested during the recent acts of violence in the country,” Abbas is reported to have said.

The opening of the People’s Majlis last Monday saw renewed violence on the streets of Male’ which prompted the security forces’ removal of the MDP’s ‘Justice Square’ at Lonuziyaaraiy Kohlu. Police Superintendent (SP) Ahmed Mohamed stated at the time that the raid was deemed necessary due to the suspicion that illegal activities were being planned and committed at the camp.

The ensuing court case to determine the legality of this seizure continues this afternoon.

Meanwhile, the MDP has publicly condemned all acts of violence, in particular those targeting police officers, which have seen four law enforcement officials hospitalised in the past week.

The eventual opening of parliament on Monday represented the attainment of one of the seven points on the agenda identified in the all party ‘roadmap’ talks.

While this may have brought hopes of some light at the end of the tunnel, the fractious manner of the inaugural speech; President Waheed struggled to make himself heard over heckling MPs, suggests that its record for poor productivity may continue.

MDP MP Imthiyaz Fahmy, shortly after the event, stated his doubts that the Majlis would be able to bring forward elections in the way his party desired.

“I don’t think it will be possible through the Majlis,” Fahmy said. “A lot of MPs in the parliament supported the coup.”

The intransigence of the largest party could limit the progress of talks in the Majlis and the alleged refusal of the government to continue dialogue with the MDP hints that the all-party talks as a forum for progressive debate may have again broken down once more.

It was a failure to successfully open the Majlis on March 1 amidst MDP protests that saw a number of political bodies, including the DRP and PPM, to walk away from the all-party talks designed to provide a solution to the stalemate. The opening of the Majlis was a condition required by some attendees to facilitate the resumption of these negotiations.

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Nasheed departs to Lanka to talk about coup

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has departed to Sri Lanka on Thursday on a mission to give information to the international community on “how the Maldives government was changed in a coup” on February 7.

According to the statement released by the Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), “Reeko” Moosa Manik, party chairperson, MDP Parliamentary group leader Ibrahim Mohamed “Ibu” Solih, MP Mohamed Aslam and several cabinet members of his administration will accompany him during the trip.

This is Nasheed’s first trip abroad since his controversial resignation, which the party claims was forced in an opposition backed coup that was aided by rogue security forces.

MDP expects to gain international backing on calling early elections in Maldives to unseat the new President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, whose legitimacy has been widely denounced by MDP supporters following the police and military-led events of February 7.

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Amana Takaful opens shares for trading Feb 8

Amana Takaful has announced that its initial public offering (IPO) of 800,000 shares will open for trading on the February, along with a further 11,441,187 bonus shares.

The Sri Lanka-based sharia-compliant insurance company had previously announced an IPO of 800,000 shares in September last year.

General Manager of Amana Takaful, Hareez Sulaiman, said in a statement that the total number of shares issued were 20,241,987.

“The Maldives economy, no doubt, has huge potential for growth, but needs foreign and local investments,” Sulaiman said.

“An active stock market is what will attract this investment. Therefore, we expect not only our valued shareholders but also other individuals and corporates to actively take part in the stock market.”

The company had previously shared its hopes of generating Rf16 million (US$1.4 million) in proceeds through the IPO, by selling shares at a low issue price of Rf20 (bundled in packages of 25).

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Maldivians among 161 Muslim clerics evicted from Sri Lanka for illegal preaching

Sri Lanka has ordered a group of 161 foreign Islamic clerics – including a number of Maldivian citizens – to leave the country after they were found preaching Islam illegally.

AFP reported the Controller of Immigration and Emigration of Sri Lanka Chulananda Perera as saying that the clerics belonging to the Tabligh Jamat group, and were ordered to leave following complaints from the Muslim community that the “clerics were not preaching the moderate Islam” practiced normally in the Buddhist dominant country.

Perera also told that the clerics arrived in Sri Lanka on the tourist visas and they had violated Sri Lanka’s immigration laws by preaching Islam.

“We have ordered them to leave the country by January 31. They have violated immigration laws. A tourist visa is to have a holiday or visit friends and family and not to preach Islam,” Perera told AFP.

Foreign clerics are required to submit an application to the Sri Lankan religious affairs authorities to get permission before preaching Islam.

According to Perera, the clerics arrived in Sri Lanka last month in small batches.

The preachers included Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, Maldivian and Arab nationals, although authorities did not specify the number of people belonging to each country.

The Maldives Foreign Ministry did not specify the number of Maldivians ordered to leave, although it confirmed the report.

“The ministry is deeply upset that some Maldivians were among the group of people ordered to leave the country for breaching Sri Lankan law,” the official added, advising Maldivians visiting abroad to respect the rules and regulations of countries they were visiting.

Tablighi community scrutinised

The group to which the clerics belonged to remains “controversial” among the Muslim community and has been criticised even by the some local religious NGOs in the Maldives.

When the Islamic Ministry permitted a group of five Tablighi Jamaat members to preach in the Maldives in 2009, several religious scholars advised the public not to join their gatherings and walked out from the mosques during the Tablighi scholars’ sermons.

Speaking to Minivan News at the time, Sheikh Abdulla Bin Mohamed Ibrahim, the president of religious NGO Jamiyyathu Salaf, said the Tablighi Jamaat “have beliefs and principles which conflict with the true Islamic creed.”

He added that no prominent scholar had accepted their principles and all had warned against them for their “misconceptions”.

Further, Sheikh Aboobakuru said a number of Islamic clerics, including the former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Sheikh Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah ibn Baaz, had urged Muslims to stay away from the group.

But, Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, State Minister for Islamic Affairs at the time, defended the ministry’s decision to issue preaching permits to the group saying “they are not extremists and they are preaching according to guidelines given by the ministry”.

Speaking to Minivannews on Sunday, Ibrahim Fauzee, President of the Islamic Foundation of the Maldives (IFM) also said that it is “concerning to hear” that Maldivians are participating in the Tablighi group.

“I do not know about the Maldivians being deported from Sri Lanka. But we have  heard that some Maldivians are involved in Tablighi group. This is very concerning and needs to be investigated,” Fauzee said.

He also added that the Tabligh group widely promotes Sufi beliefs, as opposed to the Sunni Islam practices in Maldives.

The Tablighi Jamaat, (‘society for spreading faith’) is described on Wikipedia as a religious movement founded by a Muslim named Maulana Muhammed Ilyas India in 1926, in response to degradation in practice of Islamic principles and values among the common Muslim folk and efforts by organisations to convert poorer sections of Muslims to Hinduism.

The movement primarily aims at Tablighi spiritual reformation by working at the grass roots level, reaching out to Muslims across all social and economic spectra to bring them closer to Islam, according to the site.

The movement gradually expanded from local to national, and turned to a translational movement and now has followers in over 150 countries.

Due to the orthodox nature of Tablighi Jamaat, they have been criticised for being retrogressive, according to the entry: “The women in the movement observe full hijab for which the Tablighi Jamaat is accused of keeping women strictly subservient”.

The group is also widely criticised for their “neutral political stance” and accused of being a “recruiting ground by al-Qaeda” – allegations which the movement has denied repeatedly.

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