MALDIVES PRESIDENT RESIGN AMID UNREST

Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed has resigned after weeks of demonstrations and a mutiny by some police officers. Vice-President Waheed Hassan was sworn in as president after Mr Nasheed quit.

Mr Nasheed is being held against his will by security forces at the presidential palace in the capital, his brother told the BBC.Tensions escalated after the Maldives army arrested a senior judge last month, prompting bitter street protests in the Indian Ocean island chain.

• "Security forces say they can't release him, he wants to come home," Mr Nasheed's brother, Ibrahim Nasheed, told the BBC, adding the security forces said there were concerns for his safety if he was released.
  Earlier, announcing his resignation on state television, Mr Nasheed said it would be "better for the country in the current situation" if he stood down.

A source close to the the country's first democratically elected president described Tuesday's developments as a "coup by the former regime". However, the army and the vice-president deny the claims.

Source: BBC...Read more...