Maldives appoints key dissident as minister

Ghasim Ibrahim was named finance minister on Thursday by President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, said a government official in the capital island Male.

Ibrahim, a top businessman and a former member of the dissident Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), was among dozens arrested after anti-government riots in Male a year ago, government spokesman Mohamed H. Shareef said.

"He has completely renounced the MDP and is concentrating on his business and philanthropic work," Shareef told AFP by telephone.

"This is a very significant appointment at a time when the country is rebuilding after the tsunami."

Diplomatic sources said Ibrahim's defection to the government could be a blow to the dissidents, who for the first time were allowed to register themselves as a political party in the tiny archipelago in June.