Male, February 10 (newsin.asia): The Maldivian Police warned on Saturday that “legal and regulatory action” will be taken against those who make the false allegation or spread the baseless rumor that the Maldivian Police Service (MPS is infiltrated by Islamic radical returnees from Syria and Iraq.
Former President Mohamed Nasheed had told the Times of India that Maldivians who had fought with the ISIS in Syria and Iraq had come back and joined the MPS..
“The Maldivian Police Service categorically denies these allegations. The allegation made by the former President has no basis in truth and was made for his own benefit to create misconceptions about and mistrust in. the Maldivian police service,” the MPS said in a release.
“We therefore request that such false and malicious rumors regarding the police force not be disseminated. We also state that necessary legal and regulatory action will be taken against all who engage in such actions against the Maldives Police Service,” the release warned.
Meanwhile, President Abdulla Yameen’s Progressives Party of Maldives (PPM) has come out with a strong statement condemning Nasheed’s charge that returning ISIS fighters are “embedded” in Maldivian state institutions including the police and there is a “deep state” of these elements within the Maldivian state.
The statement said that the codswallop (rubbish) uttered by the former President is part of his consistent campaign to tarnish the image of his country and its institutions.
The release said that the Maldives is wedded to a moderate form of Islam and there is “zero tolerance” of radicals and terrorists. It is managing the problem of radicalization and terrorism through the National Counter- Terrorism Centre and with the cooperation of international agencies.
The security agencies have intercepted those who were attempting to go Iraq or Syria for fighting with the ISIS.
About Nasheed’s charge that China is involved in “land grab” in the Maldives and that the Yameen government has given China 17 islands for US$ 40 million, the PPM said that this is a baseless allegation.
It recalled that when Nasheed was asked at a recent press conference whether he could name a few of these islands, he could not give even one name.
The PPM regretted that Nasheed’s false charges made to keep himself relevant overseas, should find a place in the press.
( The featured image at the top shows prayers being said in a mosque in Male.Photo:Trip Advisor)