Ousted Maldives president arrested

A criminal court in the capital Male issued arrest warrants for ousted president Mohamed Nasheed and his former defence minister, but the charges against them were unclear, a senior official of Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said.

Police said on state TV on Wednesday night that protests led by Nasheed after his ouster were "an act of terrorism."

MDP officials said police and soldiers were on their way to arrest Nasheed, who had just met with a Commonwealth delegation in the luxury Indian Ocean resort islands to mediate in the political crisis that followed his resignation on Tuesday.

The tumult this week is far away from the thousands of upmarket tourists who visit the islands each week. Up to one million people visit the Maldives each year, and tourism forms a major chunk of its GDP.

Nasheed was injured on Wednesday when police broke up protests against his ouster, and there was no immediate word on his whereabouts. Vice President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik was installed as president and has said he will form a government of national unity.

Protests against Nasheed's government started after he ordered the military to arrest the criminal court chief justice, saying he was blocking multi-million dollar corruption and human rights cases against the allies of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, president for 30 years until he was replaced by Nasheed.

The Progressive Party of the Maldives, led by Gayoom, said in a statement it was appalled by Nasheed's "desperate attempts at insurgency to return to power barely 24 hours after his resignation."

Western diplomats said they wanted all political parties, including Nasheed's, to back down and join the unity government.

However, John Rankin, British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, said he was concerned for Nasheed.