Maldivian president dismisses defense minister

Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen has dismissed Defense Minister Mohamed Nazim for yet unspecified reasons.

“President Abdulla Yameen has today dismissed...Col. Mohamed Nazim from the post of minister of defense and national security,” read a presidency’s statement, adding that retired army general, Moosa Ali Jaleel, was appointed as the new minister.

Nazim’s dismissal comes days after special operations officers searched his home at a pre-dawn raid on January 18. The police, taking away unspecified documents, obtained a search warrant on suspicion that Nazim was “harboring weapons and explosives.”

Ibrahim Muaz, a presidential spokesman, tweeted on Tuesday that Nazim has been “expelled from his post due to an ongoing investigation.”

Nazim described his dismissal as "an alarming signal that entering any house, at any time and to do anything is possible.”

"The defense minister is the most senior official standing beside the president…. In which country of the world do police kick down the door to a defense minister's home and proceed to destroy all doors and conduct a raid at 3:30 am?” he asked

Nazim is widely believed to have played a pivotal role in toppling the country's first democratically-elected leader, Mohamed Nasheed, who later said he had resigned under duress.

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