'True Climate Hero' Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives Injured in Suspected Bomb Attack
Former Maldives president and climate champion Mohamed Nasheed was injured Thursday in a suspected bomb attack as he was getting into his car in the nation’s capital of Malé.
Nasheed, who became Maldives’ first democratically elected president in 2008 and is currently the nation’s parliament speaker, was reportedly rushed to a local hospital for treatment following the attack. Authorities have not yet offered details on Nasheed’s condition.
While an investigation is ongoing, one Maldives official suggested the blast may have been caused by an “improvised explosive device, possibly rigged up to a parked motorcycle.”
“Cowardly attacks like these have no place in our society,” said Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid. “My thoughts and prayers are with President Nasheed and others injured in this attack, as well as their families.”
News of Nasheed’s injury prompted well wishes from activists in honor of his passionate work on behalf of climate justice during and after his presidency, which ended in a coup in 2012.
Bill McKibben, co-founder of U.S.-based advocacy group 350.org, tweeted, “Praying for Mohamed Nasheed, former [president] of the Maldives and a true climate hero, who was the victim of a bombing attack today in Male. He’s in the hospital in serious condition.”