President says no fear of terrorism in the Maldives

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

Article Tools

fd45ebc1e1d76bc1fe0ba933e60e9957[1] In his weekly address, President Mohamed Nasheed has said there is currently no fear of a terrorist attack in the Maldives.

He said the Maldives received support from India, the United States, Britain, and Pakistan, on counterterrorism and intelligence-sharing.

The President however cautioned against complacency about religious extremism in the country.

In the weekly address, which was broadcast on the Voice of Maldives on Friday morning, he emphasised the importance of information-sharing and the cooperation of the general public to address religious radicalism in the Maldives.

The President said: “The activities of religious extremist elements can potentially cause great harm to the country and the entire region. With that information, the question for us during the past 11 or 12 months was: how should the government react?

“We came to the conclusion, and experts in the area advise, that people must first acknowledge the existence of the problem in order to find a solution.”

He revealed that the government received information that 10 Maldivians already died in the conflicts in Waziristan, Pakistan.

He said according to the information the government had, about 100 Maldivians were currently involved in the conflicts in Waziristan and Pakistan-Afghanistan border region, while those recruited for such activities had exceeded 100.

In the weekly radio address the President also spoke on the progress of government’s major developmental projects.

He said the government would be able to reach an agreement on the housing project in the coming week, while agreement for a major renewable energy project in Gaafaru, would be concluded on Monday.

The President added that an Indian company was to invest in a similar renewable energy project in Addu atoll, and that privatisation agreement for Ghiyasudeen School would be concluded in November.

In his radio address, the President also spoke on the first anniversary of democratic governance in the Maldives, which will be marked on 11 November.

The government plans to mark the day by holding a “Democracy Fair” with interactive activities for the public.

Skip to News

« back