Maldives govt accused of stepping up crackdown

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said arrests had extended from the capital island Male to the other atolls and the government of President Maumoon Gayoom had crushed its latest protests.

"After four days of protests by us, there is a brutal crackdown going on," said the Colombo-based MDP spokesman Mohamed Latheef on Saturday. "Lots of people are being rounded up, beaten and then released."

He said hundreds had been arrested without giving a specific figure. The Maldivian government has said it has detained 130 people, including MDP chairman Mohamed Nasheed, and has denied allegations of brutality.

Political parties were allowed in the Maldives for the first time in June in line with Gayoom's pledge at the start of the year to establish multi-party democracy in the nation he has ruled since 1978.

The MDP, which for the first time has been allowed to register as a political party, has said the state is unleashing violence against its supporters to contain its popularity.

The British-based Friends of the Maldives said the group was "deeply concerned" over the crackdown in the tiny archipelago. It called for the immediate release of Nasheed, taken into custody eight days ago.

"Four days of civil unrest have been plagued by excessive force and brutal beatings of the 200 pro-democracy activists," group spokesman David Hardingham said in a statement.

He said the administration had used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets against peaceful protestors.

"Arbitrary arrests are continuing," Hardingham said. "The charges for which suspects are detained are not made clear and the families are given very little information."

On Thursday Gayoom named one of the country's top dissidents, Ghasim Ibrahim, as the new finance minister. Ibrahim, a top businessman and a former member of the MDP, was among dozens arrested after anti-government riots in Male a year ago.

Diplomatic sources said Ibrahim's defection to the government could be a blow to the dissidents. Some critics have said the pledge by Gayoom, South Asia's longest-serving leader, is hollow and that he has no intention of instituting a vibrant democracy in the nation of some 300,000 Sunni Muslims.