MALE, Oct 8: Armed Maldivian police arrested the country’s first democratically elected president on Monday after he ignored court orders to stand trial for abusing his power while in office, his party said.

Police in riot gear and carrying an arrest warrant broke down a door of a house where Mohamed Nasheed was staying on the island of Fares Maathodaa in the south of the archipelago, a famous honeymoon spot for the rich and famous.

The United States, a strong backer of the Maldives, urged all sides of the political divide in the fledgling democracy to stay calm and reject the use of violence following Monday’s high-profile arrest.

The ex-president, who resigned in February after what he considers to be a coup, was escorted by at least a dozen officers and taken away by boat to the capital Male, according to his MDP party and photos of the arrest.—AFP