Narrow escape for Maldives prez as boat hit by explosion
Male:
AFP
First Lady Hurt; Male Seeks US, Oz Help In Probe
An explosion ripped through a speed boat carrying Maldives President Abdulla Yameen on Monday, injuring his wife and two others, but leaving him unhurt.
It remains unclear what caused the explosion, which came at a time of heightened political tensions in the atoll nation after the controversial jailing of Yameen's predecessor Mohamed Nasheed.
Unconfirmed reports suggested the blast, which occurred as the tightly-guarded vessel docked in the capital island Male, came from the engine room below deck.
“The first lady Fathimath Ibrahim, a senior protocol officer and a bodyguard of the president were hurt and taken to hospital,“ said Mohamed Hussain Shareef, minister at the president's office.
“The president was unhurt and he escorted the first lady to hospital where she is under observation following a minor injury ,“ he said. The Maldives has launched an investigation into the incident and is seeking help from the United States and Australia to determine what happened.
Reporters had gathered at the presidential jetty to receive Yameen, who had landed a few minutes earlier at the nearby Hulhule airport after a visit to Saudi Arabia for the haj pilgrimage.
State television footage showed the president being escorted off the boat and taken on a police vehicle.
ANALYSIS - Were IS militants behind blast on Abdulla Yameen's boat?
Bharti Jain
New Delhi:
The explosion aboard Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen's speedboat on Monday is likely to set off a debate within the archipelago nation on whether it was the handiwork of radicalized elements sympathetic to IS or, as Yameen may himself suspect, an act of “black magic“ practised by opponents.
The cause of the explosion is not yet known and the Maldivian military authorities are conducting investigations. However, India, concerned over the growing footprint of Islamic State (IS) in a country located in close proximity , is viewing the attack in the context of a YouTube video posted on September 1, showing three masked men threatening to kill President Yameen and vice-president Ahmed Adeeb if their demands for release of conservative Adhaalath Party leader Sheikh Imran and withdrawal of the new anti-terror Bill were not met. The three minute-video, which carried IS logo, had triggered speculation that it was released by the global terror outfit that has been drawing youths from all over the world, including Maldives.
The authenticity of the video is being verified, but Indian agencies believe Monday's explosion, in which the President escaped unhurt, has brought to the fore the “fault-lines in the country's security apparatus, law and order situation and political turmoil seen for most part of this year.“
Incidentally , with President Yameen reportedly consumed by fears of his opponents resorting to “black magic“ against him, the agencies here feel he may well blame the explosion on practitioners of the occult.
According to intelligence sources, religious extremism is on the rise in the Maldives with five of its youths killed over the past year while figh ting for IS in Syria. In September 2014, demonstrators had marched through Male with an Islamic State flag.
Vice-president Adeeb had recently conceded that over 200 Maldivians had travelled to Syria, turning the Indian Ocean nation into a jihadi recruitment hub.
Agencies here believe that the rising radicalization in t he Maldives has put its tourist resorts at a heightened threat, with even a lone-wolf attack likely to do immense damage.
“The explosion on the Presidential speedboat should not be taken lightly . Maldives' reputation as a tourist destination is already under strain due to the nine-month-long political crisis where rule of law has given way to dominance of criminal gangs, drug mafia and an unscrupulous administration,“ an intelligence official said while highlighting the need for restoration of democratic values and a comprehensive de-radicalisation strategy .
