Former Maldives president Nasheed faces life threat

Male, Oct 25 (IANS) Former Maldivian president and presidential election front runner Mohamed Nasheed is facing life threats from Al Qaeda agents, his office said Friday.

In a statement, Nasheed's office said two Al Qaeda agents have been put on the job for an attack on the ex-president and they are currently in Male, Haveeru online reported.

The office has requested the defence ministry's intelligence to launch an investigation into the matter and to share findings with the office.

Nasheed, who served as the fourth president of the Maldives from 2008 to 2012, was ousted by then vice-president Mohammad Waheed in February 2012 in what the former president termed as a coup, Xinhua reported.

Nasheed bagged 45.45 percent of the vote in the first round of presidential election Sep 7 but the results were annulled by the Supreme Court this month after two other candidates alleged vote rigging.

However, international monitors said the vote was free and fair.

A vote scheduled for Oct 19 was called off just hours ahead of voting after police refused to deliver ballot papers and boxes to some 200 islands, effectively stopping the election.

A new vote has been set for Nov 9 but Nasheed has already insisted that he has "no faith" in the process and called for President Waheed to resign and hand over control to the speaker of the parliament to oversee a smooth transition of power.

The Maldives heads for a constitutional void if a president is not sworn in by Nov 11.