About 50 Islamic militants in the Maldives were arrested Tuesday in a recent bombing in the Indian Ocean island nation city of Male.

The arrests followed a stand-off with police on the remote island of Himandhoo, 56 miles from the capital, the BBC reported. Authorities said the suspects clashed with police before being arrested.

In the Sept. 29 bombing in a park near a Male mosque, the first such in the predominantly Muslim nation southwest of Sri Lanka, eight Chinese, two Japanese and two Briton were injured. International tourism is the mainstay of the island nation’s economy.

There had been some arrests earlier, but it was not clear who was responsible for the attack and who were its intended victims but the government has blamed Islamic militants.

A government spokeswoman told the BBC Himandhoo has become a center of radical activities and that the radicals had set up their own mosque, refusing to pray at a government-built mosque.

The Telegraph reported Himandhoo has seen a rise Islamist extremism in recent years, with experts warning a small number of island nationals have been going to Pakistan where they get training in terrorism // Copyright 2007 by United Press International


Publication date: 09 October 2007   

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