Maldives lifts emergency

The Maldives government yesterday bowed to mounting international pressure and lifted a state of emergency imposed last week after an alleged plot to blow up the president onboard his speedboat.

The government said it had decided to end the week-long emergency after the Indian Ocean archipelago's security forces advised President Abdulla Yameen that "the overall security situation in the country has improved".

"The Government of the Maldives today has lifted the state of emergency in the country with immediate effect," said a foreign ministry statement.

"With the lifting of the state of emergency, all fundamental rights that were suspended, have been restored."

Yameen imposed the state of emergency last Wednesday in a move that gave wider powers to police and armed forces to arrest and suspending freedom of assembly and movement.

The former colonial power Britain as well as the United States, the European Union and neighbouring Sri Lanka had called for an immediate end to the emergency which was seen as a tool to suppress dissent.

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) welcomed the end of emergency rule, saying the decision to invoke the emergency was designed to give the government legal cover to crack down on its opponents and impeach his own estranged Vice President Ahmed Adeeb.

The Maldives, a popular destination for honeymooners, has been rocked by political unrest in recent months, which reached new heights last week when Adeeb's impeachment was fast-tracked using emergency laws.