Maldive Islands Heading Them Off at the Atoll

The prospect of a military invasion of the Republic of Maldives would seem to be almost as remote as the Indian Ocean archipelago itself. A collection of some 1,200 coral islands that together make up only 115 sq. mi. of land, the country lies several hundred miles southwest of India and Sri Lanka. Its 195,000 citizens, most of them Sunni Muslims, earn their living largely from fishing and tourism. Possession of guns is outlawed, except for the fewer than 2,000 lightly armed members of the National Security Service, and violence is virtually unknown. Yet last week the capital island of Male (pronounced Mah- lay) was invaded, briefly but brutally, in an unsuccessful coup attempt carried out by foreign mercenaries.

The raiders, who numbered only about 60, struck before dawn on Thursday, landing aboard speedboats from a small freighter moored offshore. Armed with rocket launchers, mortars and automatic rifles, they quickly seized almost total control of the 370-acre coral atoll, firing at civilians who came out of their homes to investigate. Many of the island’s most prominent buildings, including its gold-domed mosque, were severely scarred by hours of gunfire.

The apparent target was President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, 50, member of a well-known Maldivian family who was re-elected in September to a third five- year term. The rebels literally had the government on the run: Gayoom and several Cabinet members fled from house to house to avoid capture during the 18-hour invasion.

Nearly all the invaders were believed to be former Tamil separatist guerrillas from Sri Lanka, apparently in the pay of Maldivian elements hostile to Gayoom. The President issued pleas for military intervention from India and the U.S. as well as Britain, which held Maldives as a protectorate from 1887 until 1965. Following an emergency Cabinet meeting, Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi dispatched some 1,600 troops to restore order in Male and commanded navy warships to head toward Maldivian waters. Paratroopers arrived less than twelve hours later, landing aboard two Soviet-built IL-76 transport aircraft at the national airport on Hulule, a few hundred yards off Male. Within minutes the mercenaries began racing back to their mother ship. On Sunday the mercenaries surrendered after an Indian frigate fired on the freighter.

The invaders left at least 30 dead, most of them civilians, and nearly 100 injured. According to Foreign Minister Fathulla Jameel, several eyewitnesses identified as the leader of the band a once prominent Maldivian businessman named Abdulla Lutefi, who currently operates a farm near the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo. Several years ago, Lutefi was arrested for entering Maldives with a firearm, apparently in an attempt to overthrow Ibrahim Nasir, Gayoom’s predecessor as President. Both Sri Lankan and Maldivian authorities suspect that Lutefi may have hired the Tamil mercenaries, many of whom have become increasingly inactive since India sent army troops to Sri Lanka to quell the separatist movement in 1987.

Gandhi intended India’s quick response to underscore New Delhi’s growing military role in southern Asia. He may have the chance to make the point again. Domestic dissatisfaction with the Gayoom regime, which does not allow opposition, is substantial, and Maldives may attract other visitors with more on their mind than scuba diving.