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Maldivian boy scout stops assassination

A Maldivian boy scout foiled an assassination attempt on the leader of his tiny nation, grabbing an attacker's knife as the man jumped out of a crowd of well-wishers and lunged at President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a government official said.

Gayoom was unhurt in Tuesday's incident, but his shirt was ripped as the attacker tried a second time to stab him before being overpowered by security guards, government spokesman Mohammed Shareef said.

"One brave boy saved the president's life," he said.

Shareef, speaking by telephone from the Maldives' capital, Male, did not identify a suspect but said the assassination attempt may have had a "political motive."

Opposition to Gayoom's three-decade rule has grown in recent years and there have also been reports of increased Islamic militancy in the Muslim nation.

Later on Tuesday, government lawmaker Ibrahim Shareef was assaulted by four unidentified men in Male and sustained minor injuries, the government spokesman said yesterday.

The lawmaker was a founder of the opposition Maldives Democratic Party but recently pledged allegiance to Gayoom, he said. He did not comment on the motive for the assault or those responsible.

The attack on Gayoom occurred soon after he arrived at the Hoarafushi islet, one of the 1,190 coral islands that make up the Indian Ocean nation.

The attacker hid a knife in the Maldivian flag as he awaited the president's arrival, Shareef said. As Gayoom greeted the crowd, the man lunged at his stomach, but 15-year-old Mohammed Jaisham Ibrahim, wearing his blue Maldives boy scout uniform with a blue kerchief around his neck, reached out and grabbed the blade, according to the government.

The teenager was flown to Male for medical treatment, Shareef said. He was reportedly injured his hands.
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