An army operation to free a kidnapped soldier and clear the illegal Dhar-ul-Khair mosque on Himandhoo has been concluded successfully, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) announced this morning.
Private Ibrahim Rasheed had been held hostage inside the mosque by ninety armed and masked men after he was captured Sunday evening in a failed police and army attempt to clear the mosque.
Police will now decide whether to demolish the Dhar-ul-Khair. And will restart an operation to arrest Himandhoo islanders they want to question in relation to a bomb blast on the capital Malé on September 29.
“Peaceful Surrender”
The Himandhoo mosque had been surrounded by army and police personnel since 10.30am on Saturday. Ninety members of a radical congregation had gathered outside, promising to defend it, “to the last man.”
A police operation to clear the mosque at 4.30pm Sunday was repelled. One policeman was left with a severed hand. Four others were injured. And a soldier was held hostage by the mosque group.
Only six of the mosque group were removed from the Dhar-ul-Khair. And with an army officer captured, MNDF spokesman Major Ibrahim Afzal told journalists, the army assumed control of the operation on Sunday night.
MNDF reinforcements were dispatched to Himandhoo at 9.50pm, taking the number of security personnel on the six hundred person island to in excess of three hundred, according to residents.
The army operation began at 1.15am, and resulted in “a peaceful negotiation and surrender,” according to Afzal. The army warned the mosque group to surrender or be removed by force
"We did not encounter any resistance when we entered the mosque.” Afzal said. Gunfire was not used in the operation.
Sheltering Suspects
Operational control has now been handed back to the police, and the army will leave “very soon,” according to Afzal.
Police must now decide whether to demolish the Dhar-ul-Khair, which has been a magnet for extremism since 2005, when Himandhoo islanders refused to pray in the government mosque, openly flouting the Maldives Religious Unity Act.
A police demolition of the mosque in October 2006 only succeeded in polarizing the island further. A relative of the island chief who supported the police move was found dead on the beach in December.
The state failed to press charges against any of the twenty five men arrested for praying at the first Dhar-ul-Khair. But after a bomb was detonated in Male' on September 29 injuring twelve tourists, the government appears intent on curbing extremism on the island.
The massive security deployment to Himandhoo came days after police announced they will build a permanent police station on the island for the first time.
Police arrived on Himandhoo to “look for any connection to the explosion in Malé.” And Afzal today said the mosque group was sheltering, “men wanted for questioning.”
On Monday morning police were refusing to comment on how many Himandhoo islanders had been arrested or how their operation on the island will proceed.
Courtesy: Minivan News
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