India - The Indian Ocean Civilization & IOR

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 10 Feb 2012 06:07

devesh ji,
I drew attention to the progress of Islamism in Maldives some years ago. It was not followed through - as maybe we began to believe our own propaganda about all is well - and economic ties etc will bring sunshine.

Here is a perspective you might well see as anticipation of your wish :
http://minivannews.com/society/comment- ... iban-25773
Maldivian government endorses Deobandi Islam, the religion of the Taliban
By Azra Naseem | September 19th, 2011 |

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Feb 2012 06:59

we have big issue if we cannot micro-manage the maldives and have to inject US, Russia, UK into the equation. its a far smaller problem than the panama issue which US clamped with a iron shoe.

but ofcourse we are fully democratic and dharmic only. the new islamist plank is to come to power via democratic means as in egypt. we need a india-friendly munna CEO in charge and a ruthless internal police to weed out any islamist elements on a continuous basis and keep things stable.

two house cats are fighting and the elephant is cowering terrified in the corner claiming these are "big cats" siberian tigers.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 10 Feb 2012 07:19

I believe Gayoom is more India supporter than Nasheed. Nasheed came with non siklur agenda and had some ties with anti India forces.

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 10 Feb 2012 07:26

Global warming is a big issue for the folks there. They aint going to get welcomed by Ummah, if the waters rise.
Even for basic things like child delivery or better education, they fly to Trivandrum (there are specialized hospitals in Trivandrum, which have agents in Male to facilitate such trips). A lot of them rent out houses during their kids' education and they are known to be remarkably low profile folks. My parents' neighboring house is rented out to a family from there. Their women are in general happy to dress up and walk around. Too happy, sometimes, as a certain old "espionage case" proved.

So the economic linkages are deep but the islamist rhetoric one is hearing nowadays is worrying. But we cannot park INS Jalashwa and let those Seahawks skim the waters....... atleast not yet.

Oh, and screw US/Russia/UK - this got nothing to do with them.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Feb 2012 08:06

but reports say envoys from all three meddlers are rushing to Male to sort things out and 'have a quiet word with the natives' like the colonial powers of old sending a 'agent' to deal with the native king, with the implied threat of future force.

at the least we had no clue of the coup and could not warn the president in time, let alone make any effort to prevent it by rushing some forces.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 10 Feb 2012 09:25

Not a couple of weeks ago Sri NVS wrote an article in Newsinsight on how india's gravitational pull is bringing democratic spring in the sub-continent http://newsinsight.net/archivedebates/n ... recno=2247

Then how did Maldives happen?

Because India is not a democracy. At worst it is a kleptocracy and at best it is a "I forgot the word - Ramanaji we discussed this term a few months ago - meaning that in Indian democracy not all parties have the same opportunities and chance to contest fair elections.

There is a proverb in Telugu "Aaru nelalu sahavasam cheste vaaru veeru avutaaru" meaning 'after six months of friendship the qualities are exchanged'.

After six decades after independence instead of standing for what is right and democracy, the GoI under the leadership of INC started behaving like the tin-pots around it. That is why we are seeing an INC coup in action - dishonoring it's military chief, putting cronies in other constitutional bodies.

India has two options. It can assert it's true self - a strong, prosperous and benign Hindu state and lead other younger brothers in that direction OR itself transform into a too-big to fail kleptocracy.

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 10 Feb 2012 09:57

"secular" naseem was becoming too much of a puppet of the west.........
so it was good to see him getting dumped. Actually, in the subcontinental region,
while we don't need islamists, we also don't need uncle and aunty's puppets.....
we just need desi-like folks, may be religious, but can do business with us. simple.

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 10 Feb 2012 10:14

was trying to review basics of this quite strategically important country from Indian perspective with population of about 400K (about a medium sized district headquarters in India).

About 25% of the nation's population lives in the capital city of Male.

A ariel view of Maldives capital Male (high resolution image; may take time to load depending on your net speed)

Interestingly they have place for what seems like a cricket ground on that island

. They could have easily built another 3-4 buildings and packed the island for good. It has 10s of other islands..not sure if they too are such densely populated. I know a bunch of them suffered during 2004 Tsunami.

Looking at construction quality and other amenities I see in this image, it looks like a lot of 'gelf' money poured in this country - important to note the stakeholders when trying to exert influence.

==Added later==information from the Maldivian govt source

Ministry of Planning and National Development

The Republic of Maldives consists of 1,192 coral islands which form a chain of 820 km in length
and 130 km in width, set in a territorial area of 859,000 sq. km. of the Indian Ocean. The total land
area of the Maldives is approximately 300 square kilometers. Sri Lanka and India are the country’s
closest neighbors, lying 750 km and 600km north and north-east of Maldives, respectively. The
islands of the Maldives are formed into 26 natural atolls, which for purposes of administration, are
grouped into 20 administrative regions. the 26 natural atolls of the Maldives have been classified
into 20 groups, each of which is referred to as an “administrative atoll”.

Maldivian society is very consistent, with one language, one culture and one religion. The official
language is Dhivehi, which is unique to the Maldives. However, English is spoken by a majority of
the people, and is also widely used in business and commerce. The population of the Maldives,
according to the national census of 2006 is 298,968 at the time of census. The population is spread
over 193 inhabited islands.

Early in the century from 1911-1953 the size of population remained quite stable at around 70 to
80 thousand. It took 60 years from the beginning of 1911 for the population to almost double to
142,832 in 1977.
The annual growth rate of the population was 1.0 percent or less until 1958 when population
reached 87,582. Moreover, the period from 1911 to 1921 and 1946 to 1953 experienced negative
growth rates of -0.27 and -0.86 per annum. The highest growth rate observed during this period
was 1.18 percent, which was from 1921-1931. This was the period after the end of First World War.
The low growth rate in these decades was due to high levels of mortality which exceeded the high
levels of uncontrolled fertility during the time.
The slow growth rate continued through the 1930s into the 1940s, during World War II. The upward
trend in population occurred in the late 1950s and strengthened in the following decades (see
Figure 1). This was the Baby-boom period when a dramatic increase in fertility rates and in the
absolute number of births occurred during the period following World War II (1946-1964) around
the world. The highest recorded average annual growth rate (5.28%) occurred in 1958. However,
the period 1961-1964 experienced decline in growth rates. Owing to the changes in mortality and
fertility rates, from 1965 the population started to grow at an unprecedented rate, (about 3 percent)
from the 1960s to 1980s.

The population growth dynamic seems to be different for the capital and rest of the nation.

The patterns of population growth rates experienced by Male’ and the atolls varied significantly
over the past years. A distinct change in the pattern is observed from 1995 onwards (see figure
3). Over the period 1995 to 2006, the population growth rate of Male’ has been increasing rapidly
while population growth in Atolls has been declining. During this period, the population increased
by almost 40 percent for Male’ and only 6.6 percent for the Atolls

Sri · Post by **Sri** » 10 Feb 2012 10:36

^^^ Thanks form the pic... Man the sense of ocean surrounding you in that fashion must be over whelming... Sea surface seams higher then Male...

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 10 Feb 2012 10:48

Indian interests are

[*]people of Maldives are basically of Indian origin - Linguistically and Ethnically part of Indian diaspora
[*]Was part of kingdoms ruled on the mainland India such as Cholas
[*]Had Buddhist presence on the island dating back to 11th century AD
[*]Closest to Indian shore - nearest islands are hardly about 100Km(?)
[*]strategically important from external agression
[*]strategically important from the security of trade routes
[*]Important destination for Indian tourist

so, we have social and security parameters weighing on having good relations with Maldives.

From Maldive's perspective, being close to World's most dynamic, growing, secular, tolerant, and civilized nation of India, Maldives' best social, economic and defense wellness is served by being close and friendly to, and I would even say part of, India. No other country can fill that place for them with the honor and dignity they can get from India/Indians.

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 10 Feb 2012 11:10

According to open sources, GDP of Maldives is about $1.5B.
As expected Tourism (~30%), Fishing (~10%) and transport/garment/boat building etc make up for the bulk contributions.

India serves as a very important market for its offerings and seem to be quite dependent on.

With this kind of slam dunk case, I am not sure how Maldives would even consider engaging with and counting on other nations for critical purposes of economic and defense wellness and how/why India does not use its leverage to ensure Maldives "gets it"

One can say, this may pretty much apply to even Sri Lanka but we and they just didn't "get it" and there in lies the problem.

Sri · Post by **Sri** » 10 Feb 2012 11:24

Staya Ji,

Thats the problem with all our neighbors. They know they depend on us completely. They know their culture is nothing but out growth of India, but they also want to exert their independence from India. otherwise they will not be anything other than yet another Indian state.

Since India is "World's most dynamic, growing, secular, tolerant, and civilized nation" they have little to quarrel about ideologically, commercially and politically, hence they find a solace in being different in religious matters. To justify to their populace that they are indeed a nation state independent of India, they try to use religion as the main USP.

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 10 Feb 2012 11:41

My cursory look at the aachar-vichar-vesh-bhoosha etc...it does not appear that people of Maldives are a clear cut case of Deobandi islamists..it simply does not appear to be their style. spoken language has heavy arabic words/accent (?) and script looks totally arabic and yet they don't wear arab clothing.

They might be undergoing transformation but will be hard pressed to call them fundoos.

However, it may be totally out place for it on this thread, if something I wished for the pukes and especially white pukes..it was really this... but some 1K miles deep inside the ocean where they can't be bothering us....let me stop at this for now.

nawabs · Post by **nawabs** » 10 Feb 2012 11:42

Indian senior diplomat flies to Maldives to assess situation

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?ar ... goryId=200

A senior Indian Foreign Office official is flying to Male on Friday as India feels that the situation in the Maldives is still volatile and has not stabilized "satisfactorily", reported local media.
M. Ganapathi, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, will hold consultations with a wide range of stakeholders in the Maldives in an attempt to bring all players to the negotiating table and sort out outstanding issues, said local daily The Hindu.
India feels ousted Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed's " defiant mood" and street protests by his Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) was an "unexpected move away from the resolution of issues," said the report.

Nasheed has called on the international community to help his country restore democracy while alleging he had been forced to resign "almost at gunpoint" and circulating videos of "police brutality" against his Maldives Democratic Party protesters in Male.India is in touch with all concerned, said Indian diplomats based in Mali after Indian High Commissioner Dnyaneshwar Mulay met both Nasheed and new President Waheed to counsel restraint by their party cadres, according to the report.
The third person who would have a bearing on the situation, former President Abdul Gayoom, is said to be in Malaysia and is reported to be unwilling to return immediately.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Feb 2012 11:58

I dont think we have any option but to commit militarily and install a pro-indian Khsatrap in Male who will agree to clean up the islamist menace.

else be prepared for a sino-pak regime off our west coast , hooking in nicely with the north kerala and karnataka deobandis and caliphate aspirants as also a fwd operating base for the somali pirates

dharma is protecting our own interests first in this case, not promoting some fake democracy.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 10 Feb 2012 12:22

Jameel is liberal ,western educated and the defence minister is a soldier trained in the west. Unclear whether they have anything to do with the Islamists .

Politically the opposition used Islam as Nasheed was weak here as he opened up relations with Israel. So opposition took advantage of it. It was all opposition parties that bought him down.

FYI Islamists have 3 seats out of 77 in parliament. They are the most vocal but are a minority there.

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 10 Feb 2012 12:26

Agree with Singha ji. It is clarity of thought and communicating that we could take this to any length to implement our way to maldivians, to chinis, to pukis, to white pukis and to mahdis..that this is non-debatable. Maldives may be provided with favorable terms on more tourists from India and we could have some more factories up there making garments for Indian markets and hosting cells for special guests from Indian deparment of corrections. But on outside interference perspective....it is not a debate or argue.

Virupaksha · Post by **Virupaksha** » 10 Feb 2012 12:31

shyamd wrote:Jameel is liberal ,western educated and the defence minister is a soldier trained in the west. Unclear whether they have anything to do with the Islamists .

Politically the opposition used Islam as Nasheed was weak here as he opened up relations with Israel. So opposition took advantage of it. It was all opposition parties that bought him down.

FYI Islamists have 3 seats out of 77 in parliament. They are the most vocal but are a minority there.

just as JUI and co have less than 10% of seats in Pakistan. Nawaz is not islamist. Bhutto is secular. One doesnt become a non-islamist just by wearing suit and boot & sipping whisky in an imported glass.

P.S: Have you read the autobiography of BB. Read it and if one doesnt call BB an islamist, his definition of islamist is one who does not rape 10 and murder 20 kafirs by his own hand. If that is your scale of islamist .....

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 10 Feb 2012 12:34

it is either West's influence or Islamists...If West's influence is heavy and perceived detrimental to us, we have to play with Islamists till we weaken the them. If balance shifts too far right, weaker will always come and negotiate.
I would even play both alternatively if that is what we have been up against and cost-benefit analysis does not allow for drastic action.

Virupaksha · Post by **Virupaksha** » 10 Feb 2012 12:38

Satya_anveshi wrote:it is either West's influence or Islamists...If West's influence is heavy and perceived detrimental to us, we have to play with Islamists till we weaken the them. If balance shifts too far right, weaker will always come and negotiate.
I would even play both alternatively if that is what we have been up against and cost-benefit analysis does not allow for drastic action.

SA,

You are forgetting the Western supported islamists ala Jinnah or the Saudis.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 10 Feb 2012 12:56

Satya_anveshi wrote:it is either West's influence or Islamists...

Let us not forget the Chinese. It recently established an embassy there.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 10 Feb 2012 13:15

Jameel the home minister - has a long track record as a politician. He was in the Nasheed govt but left due to differences.

Same with nazim, India has dealt with him before.
Current army chief in Maldives is Indian trained. He was even in India in NDC even last year. People worked with him in military exercises. Interacted with journo's extensively

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 10 Feb 2012 17:13

Sorry guys,I missed the news in the IOR thread.Tx for beefing up this thread with earlier reports.

From well known sources,the ousted pres. was trying hard to unearth scams by gayooom who had looted the Maldives for decades,stashing away all the loot abroad.For all their Islamic heritage,former mins. used to head for the fleshpots staright from the airport,without even freshening up at their hotels! There are several scams at work and some with serious international implications.Let's just say that the islands were allegedly being used as a free-for-all for several illegal activities including money-laundering.Nasheed had to be stopped by the vested interests who controlled the economy of the Maldives.In that sense,both sides looked to India to safeguard their rule and interests.

The way forward for the GOI is to ensure that true democracy prevails in the islands and not allow vested interests to take charge who are willing to swing any-which-way with any firang power in order to stay in power and continue their nefarious ciminal activities using the islands as a base.This is MMS's moment of truth.Does he have the ghoolies to carry the big stick or will he yet again hide and shy away from action,and remain an invisible and inaudible leader?

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 10 Feb 2012 17:42

Philip - Thanks. I hear Jameel (HM) quit his previous 2 cabinet postings. Nazim the retired col. was expelled from Sandhurst after he was caught making phone calls to Male by fiddling with the phone booth.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Feb 2012 18:15

islamist, westernist, chinese, indepedent patriot....they can be whatever combo of these they want as long as the main thing "pro India" is covered. of the 3 people - the coup leader, the deposed PM, Gayoom in malaysia who is the most pro-india? are there any potential other 'crown princes' we can install?

uddu · Post by **uddu** » 10 Feb 2012 19:17

Gayoom and pro-India? Just because a person needs or takes India's help never means he is pro-india. Has his rule over the years eliminated the Islamism from taking deep root in Maldives?
http://www.himalmag.com/component/conte ... faith.html
Now how can we utilize the present situation for India's benifit and liberate Maldives from the clutches of the Islamist and make it a secular country need to be looked into.

gakakkad · Post by **gakakkad** » 10 Feb 2012 19:25

Whatever it is , this coup was a major disaster for India. We succeeded in BD recently . But this was surely a failure . We should have invaded Maldives . But than I forget , Panchsheel .

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 10 Feb 2012 20:07

The essential motivation for others to meddle in Maldives' affairs is the low foot print of the resources that are needed to sway them towards, and that in turn is due to small size/area/almost uniform ethnicity. No wonder they are sought after by a saudis, west, chinies, pakis etc to a point of having a bidding war.

The only and only reason for these players to desire such engagement is to open another front to needle India. Otherwise, there is nothing of significant importance Maldives has to offer to them.

However, being the size of an Indian dist headquarters, Maldives' willingness to get into this game is what should be nipped in the bud. If we have an opportunity to walk our talk and show our willingness to do whatever it takes to secure our borders, then this could be a pilot project to execute and showcase. It is a capability question as far as Indian perspective is concerned.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 10 Feb 2012 20:08

Gayoom is the one that initiated pro PRC deals. They have been saying PRC have leased an island in Maldives to build a submarine base since 2001. Nasheed before he came to power called himself Indian and would never do anything inimical to indian interests and blamed Gayoom for playing "cheap politics" to bring PRC into Maldives.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 10 Feb 2012 22:48

Satya_anveshi wrote:Agree with Singha ji. It is clarity of thought and communicating that we could take this to any length to implement our way to maldivians, to chinis, to pukis, to white pukis and to mahdis..that this is non-debatable. Maldives may be provided with favorable terms on more tourists from India and we could have some more factories up there making garments for Indian markets and hosting cells for special guests from Indian deparment of corrections. But on outside interference perspective....it is not a debate or argue.

While I agree with Singhaji's strategy it may be in our interests that we do not help Maldives develop any economy outside tourism and fisheries.

Given their geographical proximity to India, they should become 100% dependent on india for their survival - food, economic and military security. Only then, then can have Islamic govt.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 10 Feb 2012 22:58

A quote from Brahma Chellaney
click
"Islamists ransacked Maldives' main museum and smashed Buddhist statues"

A thing that pseudos hid. Please delete if already posted.

More here.

“A mob entered the museum yesterday (Tuesday). They smashed many statues. This included some statues of Buddha,” police spokesman Ahmed Shiyam told AFP.

In an interview with AFP on Wednesday, Nasheed said a mob including Islamist hardliners had attacked the museum because they believed some of the statues inside were “idolatrous.”

Islam is the official religion of the Maldives and open practice of any other religion is forbidden and liable to prosecution.

Hopefully Indian and International efforts could well restore the deities/statues.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 10 Feb 2012 23:07

Maldives coup shows dilli is vacant.

Plain and simple.

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 10 Feb 2012 23:28

Truly a profoundly civilised race.

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 10 Feb 2012 23:35

Satya_anveshi wrote:My cursory look at the aachar-vichar-vesh-bhoosha etc...it does not appear that people of Maldives are a clear cut case of Deobandi islamists..it simply does not appear to be their style. spoken language has heavy arabic words/accent (?) and script looks totally arabic and yet they don't wear arab clothing.

They might be undergoing transformation but will be hard pressed to call them fundoos.

However, it may be totally out place for it on this thread, if something I wished for the pukes and especially white pukes..it was really this... but some 1K miles deep inside the ocean where they can't be bothering us....let me stop at this for now.

You have not been following Maldives society as it has moved over the last 20 years at the least. It is better not to believe the propaganda that emanates from Indian gov side [or afiliated spokespersons] when they reassure about the "essentially" "secular" "liberal" "not really Islamist or Islamist in name onlee" "XYZ studied/trained in India, gave such a big smile and promised the sky on such and such dinner date" type of inanities.

Follow up on the transitions that started through the theologian networks from countries now under the ubiquitious GCC, that "trained" a whole generation of political-theological activists from Maldives. The process started in earnest from early 90's, but the bases were placed even earlier in the 70's.

I think over the last 2 years I have posted several times on the growing Islamist trends and how the state itself was getting integrated with the Arabian sea islamism circuit.

If we continue to swallow the gov/congrez origin agitprop that spreads and creates false impressions about the real underlying societal processes in Islam dominated countries - we will continue to be shocked by such incidents.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 10 Feb 2012 23:41

Maldives used to be filled with Indian culture when I was young. They spent the entire day watching Bollywood. Amar Akbar Anthony was extremely popular and every kid sang the songs. Make no mistake, nothing India does not want happens there. Influence is very understated and at the highest levels. Coup most definitely had Indian support at every level. Their economy is completely controlled by Indian financial institutions. Religious institutions get Gulf money to build big mosques but the essential Maldivian is too fun loving. There has always been an Islamist freakshow especially in the out lying Islands.

Sri Lankans for some reason like to think they have influence. Though they are visibly present, esp. in education as teachers, their influence is non-existent.

The present instability is function of how long Gayoom served. His long rule allowed some really weird groups to get traction.

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 10 Feb 2012 23:48

I do not understand, why we place such a big importance on what official position holders in the state structure say about the state of affairs or trends. They have to be tactical and have to go along with impressions and propaganda.

The real way to understand what goes on in a certain society is to look at seemingly unrelated information that comes from lower levels. For example, to understand Maldives we need to understand how it formed into a separate Islamic country. How its youth were being enticed to the Gulf state madrassahs from 60's, how Indian Deobandis started operating under the political radar from the 70's. How the Deobandi threads connect mainland India, UP, Pakistan and KSA. How one of these operational threads linked up the Maldivean component with the Paki adjuncts of Deobandis. These then were facilitated in the late 80's AFPAK situation to transfer an increasing number of Maldivean students into Pakistan and Gulf states. These began returning in the late 90's and took up the Islamization drive.

All of the current crop of politicians - including the two current sides - were involved one way or the other, all the while they smiled for the cameras for congrez agitprop about Maldives being oh-nothing-to-worry-about. The congrez gov could not obviously point out the real danger - because after all these were onlee peaceful Islamist students returning peacefully to spread a completely peaceful and tolerant theology. They had not yet showed up their inevitable eventual political militancy - and any criticism or pointing out could hurt internal sentiments and cost elections.

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 10 Feb 2012 23:48

Theo ji,
by that token Pakistan would be more Indian than India - because those Pakis who have the means - are immersed in Bollywood.

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 11 Feb 2012 00:51

RamaY wrote:
While I agree with Singhaji's strategy it may be in our interests that we do not help Maldives develop any economy outside tourism and fisheries.

Given their geographical proximity to India, they should become 100% dependent on india for their survival - food, economic and military security. Only then, then can have Islamic govt.

1) They can't really have any outside tourism and fisheries

2) well, they already are dependent on India. Theo-saar's mail sort of captures their situation, from whatever I know of from peoples.

I exchanged mails with a local lad who is currently there. His views are purely that of a lay-person: There was a moment of tension, when a warrant was out for the ousted gent, but the warrant got squashed(did not clarify by whom). And apparently there was a "law and order break down" in some parts, which is now settled down. And locals finally have something to talk about, other than "karuvaad-tuna futures"

The khans, are not exactly popular, after their hasty recognition of the current gent.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 11 Feb 2012 03:35

I must agree with Theo.From my sources who have interacted with the Maldivians of all sorts ,Gayoom's decades of looting the islands of their wealth,where stashing it away in safety in Europe,etc.,has left little for the rest of the population.Who owns the numerous resorts in the country? You cannot run a resort without a "local partner",which in almost every case (the island) belongs to a top politico.Blowing up $10K a night in a "club" isn't the kind of behaviour expected of a socially concious maldivian politico!

Now one cannot say that the GOI was unaware of what has been happening all along.Nasheed's arrival was a breath of fresh air.His govt, has tried to get India's help in many ways in order to improve the economy of his country,but the forces at work in the islands also include some "weird" groups as Theo has described them,immensely powerful as I understand them,who would not like their private paradise disturbed.

nawabs · Post by **nawabs** » 11 Feb 2012 04:32

US backtracks on recognition of new Maldives Government

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/U ... 212427.php

The United States on Friday backtracked from its swift recognition of the new Maldives government, which the nation's former leader claims came to power in a coup.

Nasheed criticized Washington after the State Department said Thursday it recognized the new government as legitimate.

"It's unfortunate that the American government has decided to work with the regime," Nasheed told reporters.

On Friday in Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that the circumstances in the Maldives are murky and contested. "I got myself in a place yesterday that was not borne out by the facts," she told a news briefing.

"We will work with the government of the Maldives, but believe that the circumstances surrounding the transfer of power need to be clarified. And we also suggest that all parties agree to an independent mechanism to do that," she said.

Asked whether there had been an extraconstitutional change in power, she said the U.S. does not yet have a clear view of the facts, but would expect to have a clearer idea after U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake visits Male, arriving Saturday.