Maldives arrests vice president over plot to assassinate president
Ahmed Adeeb is being held on Dhoonidhoo Detention prison island on treason charges (AFP Photo/Ishara S.Kodikara)Maldives police arrested Vice President Ahmed Adeeb Saturday on suspicion of links to a blast on the presidential boat last month.
Police spokesman Ismail Ali said Adeeb was arrested at the airport when he returned from an official visit to China. He said Adeeb has been taken to a detention center on an island.
The Sept. 28 explosion took place aboard the speedboat when President Yameen Abdul Gayoom and his wife were returning to the capital from the airport after a hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. The airport of this archipelago state is on a separate island.
Gayoom escaped unhurt but his wife, an aide and a bodyguard were injured.
Authorities said initially the blast could be a result of a mechanical failure. But they announced later the blast was an attempt to assassinate Gayoom and launched a criminal investigation. The device was placed under the seat usually occupied by the president, who escaped unhurt because he wasn\’t sitting there, the government said.
Adeeb has denied that he was linked to the explosion.
SOURCE: Associated Press
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