Maldives impeaches VP accused of plotting to kill president

Maldives' Parliament voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to impeach the country's vice president, who will be charged with terrorism for plotting to kill the president, a minister said.

Ahmed Adeeb is the second vice president to be impeached in three months. He has been arrested for allegedly planning to kill President Yameen Abdul Gayoom in an explosion on his speedboat on Sept. 28. Adeeb has denied involvement in the blast.

The impeachment motion received 61 votes in favor and none opposed in the 85-member Parliament. The main opposition group, the Maldivian Democratic Party, abstained.

"We have passed the impeachment with an overwhelming majority. We thought 57 votes would do the job but we got 61," Home Minister Umar Naseer told the Associated Press.

"Now the vice president is out of office and we will charge him under the recent terrorism law," Naseer said. 

The government recently passed a tough terrorism law aiming to deal with Maldivians sympathizing with the IS group. If found guilty Adeeb could face up to 25 years in jail.

"This will be a new beginning for the government and because of him the government suffered a lot of problems."

The president, who was not hurt in the blast, has declared a state of emergency, saying the explosion and subsequent discovery of arms posed a threat to national security.

The military said Monday that it found a homemade bomb in a vehicle parked near the president's official residence and deactivated it. Days earlier it said an arms cache was found on an island being developed as a tourist resort.

Adeeb, 33, who was once Gayoom's trusted protege, became vice president in July after the impeachment of his predecessor, Mohamed Jameel, who had fallen out of the president's favor.

Lawmakers from Gayoom's party even changed the constitution to reduce the minimum age for presidents and vice presidents from 35 to 30 to enable Adeeb to take office. 

However, suspicion immediately fell on Adeeb after the explosion on Gayoom's boat, and he was arrested at the airport as he returned from an official visit to China.

The government has called the explosion an assassination attempt. The U.S. FBI, which investigated the explosion at the government's request, said it found no evidence that it was caused by a bomb. 

Maldives, better known for its beaches and luxury island resorts, has had a difficult transition to democracy since holding its first multiparty election in 2008. (AP)