Boy scout saves president's life
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - January 8, 2008 President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was not hurt, but his shirt was
ripped when the attacker tried to stab him before the boy and
security guards intervened during the event on the small island of
Horafushi, said government spokesman Mohammad Shareef.
"This fellow in the crowd with a knife in his hand attempted to
stab the president in his stomach," Shareef said by telephone from
Male, the capital. "But a 15-year-old boy came in the way, and
grabbed the knife. One brave boy saved the president's life."
The scout was identified as Mohamed Jaisham Ibrahim, who had
lined up to welcome Gayoom, according to the president's Web site.
The boy was injured in the hand by the knife. "His wound was
stitched but later he complained that he could not move some of his
fingers, so he was flown by a sea plane to Male," Shareef said.
"There was blood on the president's shirt, but it was not his
but the boy's. Still we got a physician to examine him," Shareef
said.
A photograph of the boy on the Web site of the Haveeru daily
showed him wearing a blue scouting uniform with a blue kerchief
around his neck waiting in line to greet the president.
Boy scouts in the Maldives are similar to their U.S.
counterparts, receiving training in first aid and participating in
activities such as camping. Like in the U.S., their motto is "Be
prepared."
The attacker had wrapped the knife in a Maldives national flag
as he stood among a crowd waiting for Gayoom, 70.
A police Web site identified the attacker as Mohamed Murshid,
20. No motive was given, and other details were not disclosed.
Shareef, speaking by telephone from Male, said the assassination
attempt may have had a "political motive," but it was too early
to say if Islamic militants were involved. Opposition to Gayoom's
three-decade rule has grown in recent years and there have also
been concerns about increased Islamic militancy in the Muslim
nation.
After the attack, Gayoom addressed the nation by radio, thanking
the teenager and calling for calm, according to the Web site of the
Minivan newspaper.
"We should not resort to violence even if we have differences
between the parties," Gayoom was quoted as saying.
Gayoom has ruled this Indian Ocean atoll of 1,190 coral islands
since 1978 and helped turn it into a major destination for tourists
seeking a quiet vacation on virgin beaches surrounded by crystal
blue waters.
However, the country of 350,000 people has also had its share of
turmoil in recent months.
On Sept. 29, a homemade bomb blamed on Islamic militants
exploded in a Male park, wounding 12 tourists. A week later, police
and soldiers raided an island that was a reputed insurgent
stronghold, sparking a battle with masked men armed with clubs and
fishing spears that wounded more than 30 security officers.
Some high school graduates in the Maldives have studied religion
at extremist institutions in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and spread
their radical beliefs across the islands, according to Rohan
Gunaratna, a Singapore-based terrorism expert.
While many of the fundamentalists were not violent, a Maldivian
was caught trying to join the Taliban in Afghanistan, another was
arrested in India seeking to buy sniper rifles, and a third was
jailed by U.S. authorities in Guantanamo Bay.
Gayoom has also faced opposition protests to his previously
unchallenged rule in recent years. Under the pressure, he legalized
opposition parties and agreed to hold the nation's first truly
democratic election later this year.
Meanwhile, New Maldives Movement, a new opposition coalition
formed to challenge Gayoom's three decades of rule in upcoming
elections, condemned the attempted assassination.
"The NMM calls for an independent and speedy investigation into
the attack and stresses the importance of making the results of the
investigation public," the group said.