May 6 attack: Intelligence sharing issues still unresolved

It has been revealed that intelligence sharing issues that emerged following the May 6, 2021's assassination attempt on former President and Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed, have still not been resolved.

Following the attack, a Parliamentary inquiry on the incident showed that there were issues related to intelligence sharing among the uniformed agencies of the country.

Speaking at the parliament's 241 Committee, which oversees the operations of security services under Article 241 of the Constitution of Maldives, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Ahmed Nazim said that the country's National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) had told the Committee that the intelligence sharing issues between uniformed agencies still remain unresolved.

Nazim, talking about what NCTC said at today's closed-door Committee meeting, said that the classified report prepared following the attack on Nasheed also highlighted intelligence sharing as the biggest issue in the matter. As such, members of the committee discussed to escalate the matter to the government, he said.

Chairperson of the committee, Eydhafushi MP Ahmed Saleem said that they are now preparing to send letters to relevant government bodies.

Nasheed, who was serving as the Speaker of the Parliament at the time, was attacked by an explosive device planted on a motorcycle parked near his residence, on the night of May 6, 2021. He sustained serious injuries and had to undergo major surgery and subsequent treatment abroad.

It has been reported that a parliament member had made Mariya Didi, the then Defence Minister, aware of a possible threat on Nasheed's life. Following this, the government was met with heavy criticism and was accused of failing to take necessary steps to prevent the attack. However, the administration denied these allegations.

Following investigations, the state pressed terrorism charges against Mujaz Ahmed, Thahumeen Ahmed, Ali Haisham, Fahumy Ali and Ishag, as well as Mohamed Nazim in the case.