Nasheed supporters clash with police in Maldives
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Several thousand supporters of former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed clashed with police and troops in riot gear on Wednesday, a day after his resignation which he blamed on a coup d'etat.
Nasheed was among the crowd that rallied in the centre of the capital Male in a square next to the police and military headquarters.
Chanting slogans in support of Nasheed, the protesters threw stones and security personnel responded with tear gas and pepper spray, finally forcing the crowd back and away from the square.
"We're not going to stop," said Mohamed Abdulla, a supporter of Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
"We'll just regroup and protest elsewhere."
"These people have seized our power!" another protester shouted.
Nasheed had led the crowd into the square following a meeting of the MDP leadership, which passed a resolution calling the new administration of President Mohamed Waheed illegitimate.
In an interview, Nasheed insisted that he had been forced into resigning by a group of armed rebel police and army officers who had threatened a bloodbath if he refused.
'Asked to leave at gunpoint'
The ousted president of the Maldives, credited with bringing democracy to the Indian Ocean island resort, said he was forced out of power at gunpoint and urged his successor to step down.
"Yes, I was forced to resign at gunpoint," Nasheed told reporters after his party meeting a day after his resignation.
"There were guns all around me and they told me they wouldn't hesitate to use them if I didn't resign."
He did not elaborate on who held him at gunpoint, but one of his aides revealedhe had been hustled out by the military.
"I call on the chief justice to look into the matter of who was behind this coup. We will try our best to bring back the lawful government," he said.
In his first comments since his televised resignation, he urged Waheed to step down and said he and his supporters would take to the streets 'if police use force'.
"I call on Dr. Waheed to step down from the seat he is sitting in right now and call for immediate elections," Nasheed told the assembled party members to raucous cheers.
Waheed earlier said he was holding discussions with all Maldivian parties and expected to have nominations for his cabinet ready in a few days.
"Do I look like someone who will bring about a coup d'etat?" Waheed asked.
"There was no plan. I was not prepared at all."
Just 24 hours after police joined opposition protesters in attacking the military headquarters and seizing the state TV station, the streets of the capital island, Male, were calm as people went to work and children to school.
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