A MUSLIM NATION WITH REPUTATION FOR TRANQUILITY

Date: 29 Sep 2007

Comment:

German News Service, Sep 29, 2007.

Tourists injured in Maldives bombing

Twelve tourists have been injured in a bomb blast in the Maldives' capital, Male. The explosion took place near a mosque at the entrance to the capital's Sultan Park, a stop-off for tour groups. 
The injured included British, Japanese and Chinese nationals. It was not immediately known who was behind the attack, which apparently was caused by a homemade bomb. It is the first time a bomb has exploded in the Maldives, a Muslim island nation with a reputation for tranquillity.
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AOL NEWS: sep 29, 07.

Two Britons hurt by Maldives bomb

Two Britons were injured in a bomb blast in the Maldives that wounded at least 12 tourists, the Foreign Office said.

The blast happened outside the main mosque in Male, the capital of the republic of islands in the Indian Ocean.

A spokeswoman for Universal Resorts, a firm based in the Maldives that owns some resorts, including the Baros island resort, confirmed that two of their guests from Britain had been injured.

She said the couple, who live in the Gulf state of Qatar, were already preparing to fly back to the Middle East. "As far as we are aware Universal Resorts have a total of 10 guests who were injured, two of whom were UK citizens that actually live in Qatar," she said.

"Those two guests are being taken care of in the hospital in Male and are with Universal Resorts staff. They have requested that they would like to go back to Qatar as soon as possible." She added that the other eight guests were from China and were already thought to be back at their resort recovering.

The two other injured tourists, who were not guests of Universal Resorts, are believed to be from Japan.

The Foreign Office said the information it had from the authorities in the Maldives was that one of the British people was seriously injured.

But the Universal Resorts spokeswoman said: "They have burns to hands, legs and some cuts but they are not serious and most definitely are not life threatening."

The device exploded near a park, according to a Maldives government spokesman. "The Maldives has never had something like this before. We are taking this very seriously because tourism is our life blood," he said.

Thousands of tourists from Britain visit the idyllic islands each year, many of them couples on their honeymoon. Tourists normally stay on resort islands away from the capital but usually pass through Male to get there.

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