Indian Navy Surrounds Maldives Mercenaries

Indian navy vessels on Friday surrounded a ship carrying mercenaries who tried to overthrow the government of the Maldives, and talks began for the release of an undetermined number of hostages, Maldives television reported.

Diplomats in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo said they believe that most of the about 400 mercenaries who invaded the Maldives on Thursday had fled aboard the ship after 1,600 Indian paratroopers arrived.

The Maldives news bulletin gave no figure for casualties among the attackers.

The broadcast said seven security personnel and three civilians were killed in the attempt to take over the Indian Ocean island nation. It said 23 Maldives security personnel and 17 civilians were wounded.

A businessman in the capital of Male told reporters by telephone that the three civilians who were killed had been taken hostage by the attackers and held in Male’s Islamic Center.

The businessman, who asked not to be identified, also said the attackers had taken Transport Minister Ahmed Mujuthaba and a member of the Maldives parliament, Ismael Nasser, with them when they fled to their ship.

In New Delhi, a government spokesman said India was withdrawing some of the paratroopers it sent in to crush the attempted coup.

Soldiers Start to Leave

The Press Trust of India news agency quoted the External Affairs Ministry as saying the main island had been cleared of rebel activity and that one planeload of soldiers had already left.

He said the soldiers will continue searches in neighboring islands of the archipelago.

Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom sought international help after the mercenaries invaded Male, a one-square-mile town that holds 46,000 of the republic’s 181,000 people.

Indian television Friday evening showed Indian troops patrolling Male and fanning out around the airport on a nearby island. Many buildings appeared pockmarked by bullets.

A senior officer said the troops took about half an hour to secure the airport after landing on Thursday night, then commandeered boats to ferry them across to the main island.

There they took about an hour to reach Gayoom, who was protected by his guards during the fighting, and get him to safety.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Charles Redman said that Indian troops “had successfully occupied all the positions taken by the attackers” in Male.

He said all Americans in the Maldives--believed to be about 37--were reported safe and officials from the U.S. Embassy in Colombo planned to go to the Maldives as soon as transportation was restored.