November 12, 2008	Wednesday	Ziqa'ad 13, 1429

MALE, Nov 11: A former political prisoner who unseated Asia’s longest-serving leader as president of the Maldives was sworn into office on Tuesday, taking charge of a nation he fears could soon disappear.

Mohamed “Anni” Nasheed, 41, took his oath of office at a ceremony televised live from a convention centre in the capital island Male where he began his pro-democracy campaign in 1990 as a journalist for an underground magazine.

He was in and out of jail for a period of six years under former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who had led the nation for 30 years before he allowed democratic reforms and was beaten in an Oct 28 run-off election.

Nasheed has already hit the headlines with his idea to take out insurance in case the Indian Ocean atoll nation, a top luxury tourism getaway, is swamped by rising sea levels.

A one-metre (3.3-foot) rise would almost totally submerge the country’s 1,192 coral islands scattered off the southern tip of India. Experts predict a rise of at least 18 centimetres is likely by the end of the century.

“I don’t want Maldivians to end up as environmental refugees in some camp,” Nasheed told reporters at his first press conference after winning theelection.

“We are talking about taking insurance — if the islands are sinking we must find highland some place close by. We should do that before we sink.” Nasheed told Britain’s Guardian newspaper that he had already broached the subject of finding a new homeland for Maldivians with several countries and found them to be “receptive.” India and Sri Lanka are targets because they had similar cultures and climates, while vast Australia was also an option.

Aside from global warming, Nasheed faces a host of other challenges as he begins his five-year term.

There is a danger of civil unrest after decades of one-party rule under ousted president Gayoom, a need to release political prisoners and push through a series of promised reforms in the new democracy.

“There should be no political prisoners in the Maldives,” Nasheed said.

“That is clear and we will very quickly look into the cases of those who are being held.”

—AFP