Nasheed plans return to save sinking Maldives

He faces jail in the Maldives but former president Mohamed Nasheed says he wants to contest elections and guide the island nation away from environmental catastrophe.

Nasheed became the first democratically elected president of the Maldives in 2008, but lives in exile in London after he was jailed on terrorism charges that he says were politically motivated.

"I don't think I can return home without risks. I don't think there will ever be a time for that," the 49-year-old told AFP during a visit to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

"I guess I'll have to take the risks and do it, if I were to do it."

In the past he has accused Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled the Maldives for 30 years and is still regarded as the power behind the throne, of being behind his downfall.

But in September he indicated he wanted to bury the hatchet with Gayoom, amid reports of a rift between the former strongman leader and his half-brother, current President Abdulla Yameen.

Once a honeymoon paradise before its tourism industry was shaken by political unrest, the Indian Ocean island chain could be underwater by 2100, according to the United Nations.

"It's already happening in the Maldives, it isn't something that is going to happen. We are already going through it," said Nasheed, adding that 16 of the 196 inhabitable islands already needed to be evacuated.

Nasheed is pushing for the Maldives to use its own resources, rather than international aid, to bolster its defences against rising seas and coastal erosion.

"To do that, we must have investor confidence, for us to bring the money into the country. It is my view that we have enough resources," he told AFP.

Investment has stopped because of corruption, he says, citing what he describes as the unlawful termination of construction contracts by Yameen's government.

The politician is at Sundance to take part in a climate change discussion panel on Sunday with former US president Al Gore, now a celebrated environmental champion.