Radical Islam shows up in Maldives

Maldives: In Maldives, a 100 per cent Sunni Muslim nation of 300,000 people, amid the picture-perfect holiday getaway and away from the eyes of the tourist - a more radical form of Islam is being preached and one of the most liberal Muslim countries on earth is worried.

Says Maldives Foreign Minister, Ahmed Shaheed, "The country has gone through a very rapid demographic transition. In 1993, the government passed a legislation called the Act of Unity designed to ensure that extremists never issue a fatwa to rural communities."

The growth of Islamic fanaticism in Maldives was first noticed when 28-year-old Ibrahim Fauzee was arrested in Karachi in Pakistan in 2002 and taken to Guantanamo Bay by the US security forces.

Fauzee was arrested for his alleged links with the al-Qaeda.

In the last few years, this liberal nation has seen a surge in the number of veils on the street. Women have been switching to a full headscarf and Arabic-style robes. Grand new mosques have also sprung up, paid for by donors from the Middle East

Says founder, Maldivian Democratic Party, Mohamed Latheef, "He is the person who brought Islamic fundamentalism into the country. Before he came into power, there weren't all these madrassas exposing extremist form of Islam at all. Now he has been using Islam as a tool of governance."

Mohammad Latheef is a pro-democracy leader and lives in self-exile in Sri lanka. He alleges that since President Gayoom came to power in 1978, he has increasingly used religion to remain in power.

In 1997, Islam was declared the state religion and no other religion is allowed to be practiced.

Even though the government has been cracking down on Jihadis - seven preachers encouraging Maldivians to wage Jihad abroad have been arrested - but Jihadis roam free.

The world is watching keenly on whether the former Egyptian-trained Islamic cleric-turned-Asia's longest ruler will crack the whip or play the religious card to remain in power for more years to come.

The biggest worry is that another moderate Islamic state might fall prey to the long reach of fanatic Islam.

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