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The Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said that an explosion that wounded former leader Mohamed Nasheed was an attack on the country’s democracy and economy and said Australian police would assist the investigation.
Nasheed, 53, was injured in the blast Thursday night outside his home and was being treated in a hospital in the capital, Male, police said. Home Minister Imran Abdulla told a local television that Nasheed’s injuries were not life-threatening. He is the current Parliament speaker and was the Maldives’ first democratically elected president, serving from 2008 to 2012.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said in a televised speech that Australian Federal Police investigators will arrive in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation on Saturday.
According to a report by news agency AP, Neither Solih nor police have given further details on the attack and no one has claimed responsibility. Photos circulated on social media showed a ripped-up motorcycle at the scene.
The presidency of Nasheed ended a 30-year autocratic rule, but his own term ended when he resigned amid protests. He was defeated in the following presidential election and became ineligible to enter the 2018 election due to a prison sentence. His party colleague Solih won the 2018 presidential election.
