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Maldives MALDIVES
Security Concerns
Since independence Maldives has faced no external
threats but
has experienced three major internal threats. In May 1980,
President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom disclosed details of an
abortive
coup against his regime. According to Gayoom, former
president
Ibrahim Nasir, supported by nine British ex-Special Air
Services
mercenaries, masterminded the plot. Nasir denied this
allegation
but in April 1981, the authorities sentenced Ahmed Naseem,
former
deputy minister of fisheries and brother-in-law of Nasir,
to life
imprisonment for plotting to overthrow Gayoom. Attempts to
extradite Nasir from Singapore failed. In July 1990,
Gayoom
pardoned Nasir in absentia, ostensibly because of his role
in the
independence struggle. In 1983 Gayoom encountered another
unsuccessful coup attempt.
The most serious challenge to Gayoom occurred in
November
1988, when former Maldivian businessmen Abdullah Luthufi
led a
seaborne mercenary force of about 150 Sri Lankan Tamil
separatists who invaded Maldives and attempted to seize
key
government installations. Gayoom asked the Indian
government for
assistance and Bombay deployed a 1,600-member contingent
to
Maldives. This unit quickly suppressed the coup attempt
and
restored order. In September 1989, Gayoom commuted to life
imprisonment the death sentences imposed on twelve Sri
Lankans
and four Maldivians who participated in the coup attempt.
A few
weeks later, India withdrew its remaining 160 troops from
the
Maldives. By the early 1990s, internal security had
improved,
largely because Gayoom had embarked on a democratization
program.
Data as of August 1994
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