Mohammad Nasheed

Trading blame over Maldives turmoil

To the tourist, who has booked a vacation paradise, it is easy for him or her to never see the political turmoil that has gripped the tropical nation of the Maldives.

Upon arriving at the capital’s airport, sun seekers are often whisked away on private boats or charter jets to distant resorts on some of the country's 1200 remote islands.

Even as the unrest has spread beyond the capital of Male, it has mostly taken place on the larger islands, like Addu city, home to some 30,000 permanent residents.

There, police stations, courthouses and other government buildings were burned, as the island’s first democratically elected president, Mohammad Nasheed, announced that he was forced to resign, essentially at gunpoint, by the military in a "coup".