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Boy Scout Grabs Attacker's Knife, Saves Maldives President From
Assassination
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - The president of the Maldives was saved from
assassination Tuesday when a boy scout grabbed the knife of an attacker who
had jumped out of a crowd greeting the leader, an official said.
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.
Boy Scout Grabs Attacker's Knife, Saves Maldives President From
Assassination
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - The president of the Maldives was saved from
assassination Tuesday when a boy scout grabbed the knife of an attacker who
had jumped out of a crowd greeting the leader, an official said.
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.
