Maldives frees opposition leader, but charges remain

COLOMBO, Sep 21 (Reuters) A senior Maldives opposition leader on trial for treason and sedition has been released after over a year in custody, but the country's foreign minister said charges will remain for the moment.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed told Reuters that Mohamed Nasheed, chairman of the Maldivian Democratic Party (NDP), had been released earlier today in Male, capital of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

''He is free to go about his business,'' Shaheed said by telephone from New York, where is is attending the UN General Assembly with President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

''The charges are still there, but I expect in a month or so that we will review the situation and they will be dropped.'' Nasheed or other NDP officials were not immediately available for comment.

Shaheed said Nasheed had been freed as part of an ongoing ''process of negotiation'' between the government and the NDP over democratic reforms in the country, which Gayoom has ruled for 28 years.

Gayoom vowed last year to reform the Maldives' political system in the face of stiff international criticism of his government's human rights record and after public anger at prison abuse boiled over into a riot in 2003.

Last year the Maldives allowed the formation of political parties, which were effectively banned under the constitution, but there is still no sign of promised multi-party elections and Gayoom's trusted aides continue to run the government.

Nasheed was arrested on August 12 last year during an NDP rally and first appeared in court on October 27 where he was accused of inciting the overthrow of Gayoom, terrorism and sedition.

Maldives, with a population of around 300,000 mostly Sunni Muslims, lies 800 km off the toe of India and is known for its luxury beach resorts.

REUTERS SP RAI1827