MEA team lands in Male; Nasheed unlikely to appear in court

MALE, February 21, 2013 PTI





A high-level team of officials from the Ministry of External Affairs arrived here on Wednesday to "assist" Indian High Commission to resolve the situation arising out of former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed taking refuge in the Indian Mission for the eight day in a row.



The team, headed by Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Joint Secretary in the MEA and legal officials, arrived here to meet various "stakeholders" including Maldives Foreign Minister Abdul Samad Abdulla later on Wednesday, official sources said.



"They came in early morning and are holding series of meetings," a source said.



Mr. Nasheed has been in the Indian Mission since February 13 to evade arrest after he failed to appear in court on charges of detaining Chief Criminal Judge Abdulla Mohamed while he was president, which his party considers politically motivated and designed to disqualify him from politics.



A Maldivian court issued a fresh arrest warrant against Mr. Nasheed and directed the police to produce him before it at 4 pm on Wednesday.



Immediately after the issuance of warrant, the Maldivian Foreign Ministry conveyed the court order against Mr. Nasheed to the Indian High Commission.



An unnamed official of Mr. Nasheed's MDP told Haveeru daily that the former President will not leave the Indian High Commission to appear before the court.



External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid had on Tuesday said in New Delhi that India would be the "happiest" if the situation is solved
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