Police: IS sympathizers behind attempt on ex-Maldives leader

Maldives police say a local group that sympathizes with the Islamic State group carried out an assassination attempt in May on former President Mohamed Nasheed

MALE, Maldives -- A Maldives group that sympathizes with the Islamic State group carried out an assassination attempt in May on former President Mohamed Nasheed, police said. The suspected ringleader, identified only as Thasleem, was arrested on Saturday in the southern Addu atoll, Assistant Commissioner of Police Mohamed Riaz told reporters. He said Thasleem was also arrested in 2017 for allegedly making a bomb in an apartment and was prosecuted, but his case did not move forward and he was released the following year without explanation. Nasheed was injured in a May 6 blast outside his home in the capital, Male. The homemade bomb, planted in a parked motorbike and detonated by remote control, also injured four bystanders, including a British national.