President of the Commission on Investigation of Murders and Enforced Disappearances, Husnu al-Suood, on Saturday, met with Minister of Defence Ahmed Mariya Didi and officials of Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) over the case of abducted journalist Ahmed Rilwan.
MNDF's Spokesperson Major Ibrahim Azim revealed that the meeting to disclose the commission's interim report on Rilwan's disappearance was held at the Ministry.
The meeting was attended by high-level military personnel, including Chief of Defence Force Major General Abdulla Shamaal, Vice Chief of Defence Force Brigadier General Abdul Raheem Abdul Latheef, and Director General of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) Zakariyya Mansoor.
During the discussion, the defence ministry conveyed its concerns over religious extremism rampant in the country.
A summary of the commission's draft report on its investigation revealed that Rilwan's murder resulted from a clash between certain liberals and an extremist group, the latter reportedly being an affiliate of the militant multi-national extremist organization, al-Qaeda.
The report also confirmed the presence of Islamic State (IS) insurgent cells, which were involved in high profile robberies including the theft of MVR 1.3 million from BHM traders. He went on to reveal that stolen funds were divided into three parts and that a third of the total was sent to foreign insurgent groups.
The commission's report further disclosed that two officers working in police intelligence, Mohamed Jinah and Ibrahim Riffath, tapped Rilwan's phone calls from April 24, 2014 to July 21, 2014.
Rilwan is missing since August 8, 2014. His friend and prominent satirical blogger Yameen Rasheed was also brutally murdered on April 23, 2017.
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