FBI says no bomb blast on Maldives president’s boat: report
The FBI has said it found no evidence an
explosion on board the Maldives
president’s boat was caused by a bomb,
a report said, raising questions about his
deputy’s arrest over the incident.
President Abdulla Yameen was
unharmed in the blast on his speed boat
which authorities described as an
assassination attempt. The September 28
explosion left his wife and two others
slightly injured.
Police arrested vice president Ahmed
Adeeb nearly a month later for treason
as he returned to the Indian Ocean
archipelago from an official trip abroad.
The arrest followed a series of sackings
of government officials including
Yameen’s defence minister, which have
fuelled concerns of political instability
and further damaged the Maldives’
image as an upmarket tourist
destination.
After a review of evidence, the FBI found
that debris from the blast, first
considered possible remnants of a bomb,
were in fact parts of the boat, The Wall
Street Journal reported on Saturday.
“There is no conclusive evidence to
attribute the explosion on the boat to an
IED,” a Federal Bureau of Investigation
spokesman told the journal.
The US agency, which had been asked to
assist in the investigation, had examined
the scene of the blast and chemical trace
testing, it said.
The Maldives has faced tough
international criticism over the jailing in
March of its first democratically elected
leader Mohamed Nasheed, after a rushed
trial that the UN said was seriously
flawed.
Yameen, who came to power in
November 2013 following a controversial
election, faces international censure
over his crackdown on political dissent,
including on supporters of opposition
leader Nasheed.
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