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Crime scene after the bomb explosion in Malé, capital of the Maldives
Photo: - / AFP
Mohamed Nasheed, the current speaker of parliament and former head of state of the Maldives, was injured in an explosion in the capital Malé.
This is reported by the local media, citing eyewitnesses and police circles.
Nasheed was therefore taken to a hospital for treatment.
The police confirmed the explosion in front of Nasheed's house, but gave no other information about the incident.
So far nothing has been known about the background to the explosion.
Mohamed Nasheed became the first freely elected president of the predominantly Muslim island state in 2008 and had sought many reforms.
He campaigned against corruption and took action against Islamists in the country.
In an internationally acclaimed campaign, he held a cabinet meeting completely underwater in 2009 to draw attention to the dangers of global warming and the rise in sea levels.
Persecution and exile
In 2012 the police carried out a coup against Nasheed, after which he resigned to avoid riots. The former president was arrested in 2015. He was absurdly charged with terrorism and spent a year and a half in prison. There he was brutally tortured - he still wears a corset today because of his back damage. Nasheed's successor, Abdulla Yameen, introduced Sharia law at that time, and thousands of fighters from the Maldives joined the terror network of the "Islamic State". Nasheed went into exile.
Almost three years ago, Nasheed's confidante Ibrahim Mohamed Solih surprisingly won the presidential election, and Nasheed returned.
The election took place six months after the end of a 45-day state of emergency that Yameen had declared in February.
The government had refused to implement a Supreme Court order to release detained opposition politicians.
mrc / AP / Reuters