MALE - The vice president of the Maldives will be charged with
high treason after being arrested Saturday in connection with an explosion aboard
the president's boat last month that authorities
have called an assassination attempt, officials said.
President Abdulla Yameen narrowly escaped injury when a blast struck the boat he was using to return home from the airport late last month.
Vice President Ahmed Adeeb was arrested at the airport when he returned home from
an official visit to China via Singapore "on suspicion of involvement in the boat blast,
Adeeb had been taken to a detention center 'police said.
Home Minister Umar Naseer said that Adeeb would be charged with "high treason,"
an offense not specified in the penal code, but a term used in the Maldives
for terrorism or offenses against the state by government officials, lawmakers, judges and others.
He said evidence against Adeeb was "very strong
and God willing we'll get to the bottom of it. The investigation is still very raw."
Adeeb's lawyer, Hussain Shameem, denied the allegations against the vice president.
And also for more, with three soldiers, including a former member of Adeeb's security detail and a member of the army's bomb squad, were also arrested Saturday in connection with the blast,
Deputy Police Commissioner Abdullah Nawaz said.