Male –January 08, (IINA) – Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom survived an assassination attempt by a “young man” who tried to stab him with a knife wrapped in a national flag, according Presidential Spokesman Mohamed Shareef. He said Gayoom was unhurt. The assailant “aimed at the president from about 10 feet away, but another young boy – about 15 years old – maybe one feet away jumped to prevent him,” Shareef said.
“The knife touched the president’s shirt but not his body,” he said. Maldives is a tiny nation of islands in the Indian Ocean, southwest of India. The president was visiting one of those islands, Hoarafushi, to inaugurate an energy project, Shareef said. Police arrested the attacker, news agencies reported quoting the spokesman.
HA/IINA
08 Jan 2008