[Bangla Daily Star] Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed has called for a "tolerant" form of Islam, his office said yesterday, amid opposition calls to usher in strict Islamic law for the island nation.
Nasheed urged the country of 330,000 Sunni Moslems, to reject religious extremism and support the "traditional form" of Islam that has been practiced in the Maldives for the past 800 years.
"I asked you to come here in support of the middle, tolerant path," he said, addressing ruling party supporters on Friday.
Nasheed said moderate Islam was vital to preserve the tourism industry which generates more than two-thirds of the country's earnings.
Opposition supporters rallied hundreds
| Golly -- hundreds? How many rallied for the Danish cartoons? |
on Friday, calling on the government to scrap plans for direct airlinks with Israel, and to ban alcohol sales in island resorts as well as shutter brothels operating as massage parlours. |