MALE, Maldives — The exiled former president of the Maldives said Friday he will run again for office, hours after a surprise Supreme Court decision to free a group of political prisoners led to unrest in the capital of the Indian Ocean archipelago. Current President Yameen Abdul Gayoom had been set to run for re-election virtually unopposed, with all of his opponents either jailed or exiled. The Thursday night court ruling ordered the release of nine political dissidents, saying their guilty verdicts had been influenced by politics. But clashes broke out quickly after Yameen fired the country’s police chief, whose department had announced that it would uphold the Supreme Court verdict. Atul Keshap, the U.S. ambassador to the Maldives, welcomed the Supreme Court order.

Source: National Post February 02, 2018 02:29 UTC