Government “will not allow Maldives to become a Taliban playground”: Shaheed
23 Feb 2010, 10:00 PM
Laura Restrepo Ortega
When Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Ahmed Shaheed was asked by TV Maldives whether the country was in danger of becoming a safe haven for terrorists, he answered with “a flat no” and said “the government would not allow the Maldives to become a playground for the Taliban.”
On the weekend of 22 January, a group of Afghan MPs, “a government official” and seven people linked to the Taliban met in the Maldives for secret talks. At the time, Al-Jazeera reported that one of the Taliban’s representatives claimed the destination was chosen because “we feel safe.”
Photographs of the meeting have surfaced showing the Afghan MPs with another group gathered at the Bandos Resort conference centre.
A spokesman for the resort confirmed a group guests including Afghan MPs stayed at the resort and used the conference facilities, but noted it had no way of knowing whether the group was linked to the Taliban or not.
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