Check piracy to defeat terrorism, says Nasheed

New Delhi, Dec 25 (PTI) Terrorists, who are under attacks
in many countries, may recruit sea pirates to carry out
strikes, Maldives President Mohammad Nasheed said Thursday and
underlined the need to step up vigilance in high seas.

The recent attack on Mumbai has shown that terrorists
were using 16th century ideas of carrying out strikes through
the sea, said Nasheed, who swept to Presidency in the first
democratic elections in the archipelago nation two months ago.

The issue of being more observant and vigilant at sea
came up during his discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh yesterday, said the 41-year-old leader wrapping up his
first official visit to India.

"It is not a piracy issue any more. Pirates may be
recruited into terrorist cells. That is a best type of
terrorist you could get -- a pirate," he said pointing out
that the attack in Mumbai has all the footprints of 16th
century Indian Ocean activities.

Nasheed, a former journalist, said he was "shocked" at
the media focus on Pakistan aiding terrorists, who according
to him are now concentrating on launching attacks from the
sea.

"You have electrified the India-Pakistan border and
pushed them (terrorists) in the Indian Ocean. The Tamil Tigers
have been forced into the sea," he said.

Noting that piracy was an area of concern for Maldives,
Nasheed favoured more frequent joint exercises with the Indian
Coast Guard.

"We have a very professional coastguard and we have joint
exercises every two years. I believe two years is a very long
interval and I suppose it should be more frequent," he said.

Nasheed, who also leads the Maldivian Democratic Party,
said his government's focus would be to consolidate democracy
and make it sustainable in the archipelago nation.

The newly elected government has embarked on the process
of separating judiciary, legislative and the executive wings,
he said, adding that he was looking forward to judges and
lawyers from the Commonwealth to practice law in Maldives.

Also on Nasheed's agenda is the urgency to strengthen the
civil service. "We need to have a separation between civil
servants of (his predecessor Maumoon Abdul) Gayoom," he said.

However, he said the new government, which overthrew 30
years of "misrule" by Gayoom, will not be vindictive towards
the former President and his supporters. "Vindictiveness will
not help. We have to focus on the future," Nasheed said.

Asked about Islamic radicalism in Maldives, he said the
ushering in of democracy has "diminished" such extremist
elements. "We have been able to draw Islamic groups in the
political mainstream," he said.

Nasheed sought to downplay concerns about Maldivian youth
training in madrassas in Pakistan saying there could be 30-40
radical youth in the country and the trend could continue
unless modern education is made available to them.

"If you open up JNU or other such schools, nobody in
their right frame of mind would go to madrassas," he said.

Nasheed rubbished reports of the Maldives planning to buy
land in other countries to settle its citizens in case the
atoll nation gets submerged due to global warming.

He said the new government would focus on mitigating the
impact of climate change by building structures to protect the
islands and even raising their level.

"We din not want to end up as environmental refugees,"
Nasheed said. PTI SKU
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