Maldives' ousted president seeks global help for democracy

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The Maldives' ousted president Mohamed Nasheed on Thursday appealed to the world community to help restore democracy in his country while stating that he was toppled by a small group of police officers.

Nasheed resigned on Tuesday amid protests over detention of a top judge and was replaced by vice president Mohamed Waheed.

Nasheed said that he now feared for his life and safety of his family, who has fled to Sri Lanka.

"They want to arrest me and the situation is turning worse," he said.

Nasheed also said that the police have arrested around 250 supporters of his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) so far and appealed to his supporters to remain calm.

Maldivian police said on Thursday that they had received a court order to arrest Nasheed. It was issued following a string of arson attacks on police stations and court houses by supporters of the MDP on Wednesday.

The former president of the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Maldives is awaiting arrest, vowing to stay and fight against the current government.

Mohamed Nasheed spoke to reporters at his home on a narrow lane in Male, capital of the islands renowned for their luxury getaway resorts, as rain poured and hundreds of onlookers gathered under umbrellas awaiting the arrival of police.

Nasheed, the islands' first democratically elected president, appeared to be daring the government led by his former vice president, Mohamed Waheed Hussain Manik, to arrest him.

"The home minister has pledged (I will be) the first former president to spend all my life in jail," said Nasheed, who was relaxed and smiling and showed no signs of his reported beating on Wednesday.

He said he hoped the international community would act quickly as 'the facts on the ground are that tomorrow I will be in jail'.

However, there was no sign of the police by early evening. Police Commissioner Abdullah Riyaz, when asked by Reuters if and when a warrant would be served, declined to comment.

Nasheed said he would accept his arrest, as he did 27 times before, under the reign of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who jailed him for six years in all.

The former president spoke a day after he declared his ouster in a gunpoint coup engineered by a coterie of police, military and political rivals, and led thousands of supporters onto the streets where they clashed with riot police and troops.

Only about 330,000 people live permanently in the Maldives but there has been much interest in the tumult there this week because of the huge numbers who visit the islands on holiday.

The Maldives gets about one million visitors a year, most seeking a sun-and-sand getaway at resorts that charge up to $1,000 per night.