November 11 -2008 - Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) was sworn in as the Maldives'' 4th president Tuesday morning after beating Maumoon Abdul Gayoom last month in the Indian Ocean archipelago''s first multi-party presidential election. other new top headlines from all around world 
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May Allah guide them to the right path and assist them in their way for the benefit of the people of Maldives. Aameen
Sappe...I still can remember your BBC interview on the that day and the day you left to UK to begin this journey of liberation. I am sure there is none who would be more happier than you on this great day. Yes Man, we have all done that. We all joined in hands to liberate us from the greatest dictator on the earth. Al hamdh lillahi....WELCOME TO RETURNED HOME Bro!
That was the most wonderful feeling; sitting right across the television and watching Obama become president amidst all those cheers and sounds. God bless him.
[5:34:19 PM] Sappe says: I am arriving on EK morning flight on Saturday 8th Nov
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Mohamed Nasheed (Anni), of the Maldivian Democratic Party Alliance has been formally declared as the winner of the 2nd round of the Presidential Election held on 28th October 2008. 
The remarkable political journey of the 41-year-old leader started at John Moores University in Liverpool in 1984 where he read maritime studies. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1989 he returned to the Maldives and became a very vocal critic of President Maumoon Addul Gayoom, who had then been in power for 13 years.
In 1991 Anni was jailed and made an Amnesty International "prisoner of conscience" for writing for the popular political magazine Sangu. It was to be the first of 13 occasions when he was jailed for showing open dissent to Mr Gayoom's autocratic regime, on one occasion claiming he was so badly beaten that he now walks with a limp.
In 2000 Anni was elected as a representative of the capital Male in the People's Majlis, or parliament, and this soon became his power base.
Six months later, in 2001 he was tried and sentenced to two and half years in prison for the theft of unspecified "government property". On his release he fled the Maldives and in November 2003 joined with Mohamed Latheef to form the Maldivian Democratic Party while in exile in Sri Lanka.
In the same year a political prisoner, Hassan Evan Nassem, died in custody at the hands of the security forces causing waves of protest across the islands and a chorus of criticism abroad.
This hugely increased the pressure on Mr Gayoom to progress with democratic reforms, especially after Mr Nasheed was granted political asylum by the British Government the following year.
After about 18 months in self-proclaimed exile when he forged close ties to Britain's Conservative party, he returned to Male in April 2005 to a hero's welcome. When political parties were finally declared legal in June he built a network of support across the archipelago with branches on nearly all the 200 inhabitated islands.
In August 2005, he was arrested again during a sit in to mark the second anniversary of Black Friday, the violent putting down of a peaceful protest in the Male the previous year. He was charged with terrorism and his arrest again provoked huge unrest and civil disobedience. However, by now Mr Gayoom's grip on the Maldives was weakening and in the same year he finally agreed to a roadmap to democratic reform which resulted in the countries first free presidential elections in October 2008.
Like the plot from a Alexander Dumas novel the prisoner who he had jailed so many times in the hope the people of the Maldives would forget about him eventually became his nemesis and ended his 30 years in power.
artical from
Opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed's victory in the first multi-party democratic polls in the archipelago with a population of around 300,000 Muslims ends the reign of Asia's longest-serving leader, whose rule was likened to that of a sultan.
President Gayoom won the first round earlier this month but failed to secure the 50 per cent needed for outright victory over Nasheed.
Citing provisional figures, election commissioner Mohamed Ibrahim said yesterday in the capital Male that Nasheed had won 54.2 per cent of the vote against 45.8 registered by Gayoom in the polls that were the culmination of extended pro-democracy protests and international pressure to introduce political reforms.
Photo by Mauroof Khaleel
Copyright © 2004 & 2007 Ibrahim Mohamed! Inc. All rights reserved.e-mail:ibumohd@gmail.com
Polling is taking place amid allegations of irregularities and vote officials say voting may be extended.
The president faces five challengers, some of whom have criticised his "dictatorial and bullying" style.
President Gayoom is Asia's longest serving leader, having been in power for more than 30 years.
His main challenger to the presidency, Mohamed Nasheed, said that although there were cases of voting lists not matching official records, the irregularities were minor and he feared violence if the vote was not completed. read more BBC News
