Two military staff held over blast in which Yameen Abdul Gayoom was unhurt but wife and two aides were injured

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

An explosion in the Maldives on a speedboat carrying President Yameen Abdul Gayoom was an assassination attempt, the minister at his office has said, citing the findings of international investigators.

Two military officials were arrested over the blast, Mohamed Hussain Shareef said.

Gayoom was unhurt in the 28 September blast on board the presidential launch as it approached the capital, Male. His wife and two aides were injured. Initially the government said it could have been a mechanical failure.

Maldives president escapes explosion on speedboat Read more

Shareef said the theory was ruled out by investigators from the FBI, as well as Saudi Arabia, Australia and Sri Lanka. “They are now telling me that they have enough evidence to believe that it is likely to have been an attempt on the president’s life,” he said by telephone from Male.

“Authorities have arrested two people … in line of command who had access to the vessel.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Yameen Abdul Gayoom was unhurt in the boat blast. Photograph: EPA

Gayoom, 59, took power after a bitterly contested presidential election in 2013.

The leader he defeated, Mohamed Nasheed, was jailed this year after a rapid trial on terrorism changes in a case that has drawn international criticism. A team of international human right lawyers are pressing for travel bans and targeted sanctions against top Maldivian officials.

The foreign ministry on Tuesday said “the wholly inappropriate” sanctions threat appeared to have been widened to include a suggested tourism boycott.

A broader crackdown against political dissent belies the popular image of the Maldives, an island chain with a population of 400,000, as a holiday paradise, with radicalised youths enlisting in significant numbers to fight for Islamic State militants in the Middle East.

Local investigations into the explosion on the Maldives National Defence Force launch were continuing, and security for Gayoom had been beefed up, Shareef said.