Maldives Ex-president Mohamed Nasheed ‘Critical’ After Assassination Attempt, Says Doctors

Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed was in a “critical” condition on Friday following an assassination attempt, doctors said.

Nasheed, 53, the Maldives’ first democratically elected president and still an important figure in the island nation’s murky politics, was rushed to hospital after an explosion late Thursday.

Since then he has undergone 16 hours of life-saving operations in the capital Male for injuries to his head, chest, abdomen and limbs.

The private ADK hospital said Friday evening that Nasheed was “in a critical condition in intensive care”.

In a televised address to the nation, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih announced that a team from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) would arrive Saturday to help with the investigation into the blast.

Solih described the attack as an assault on the fledgling democracy, promising the perpetrators “would face the full force of the law”.

Police said officials from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime have also been…