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Three Maldivians detained by Sri Lankan police
Police at Sri Lanka's international airport detained three people from the Maldives on suspicion of having links with Al-Qaeda.
Police at Sri Lanka's only international airport detained three people from the Maldives on suspicion of having links with Al-Qaeda, a senior police officer said on Monday.
The suspects arrived on a flight from the Maldivian capital of Male and were waiting in a transit lounge for an onward flight to Qatar when they were detained, said the officer.
The passengers, one man and two women, were being interrogated by the Criminal Investigation Department.
The Maldives, a tiny Indian Ocean archipelago, is a Muslim nation of about 300,000 people.
A Maldivian identified as Ibrahim Fauzee appeared in the list of detainees held by the United States at its military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
But he was released in 2005 and has since returned to Maldives, according to Maldivian government spokesman Mohamed H Shareef.
There was no indication he was linked to the current arrest.
