New Maldives leader denies 'coup' charges

The new president of the Maldives, Mohamed Waheed, denied seizing power today, even as his predecessor accused him of involvement in a coup plot and called on him to resign.

Waheed, the former vice president, was sworn in yesterday hours after the dramatic resignation of Mohamed Nasheed following weeks of anti-government protests and a police mutiny on the Indian Ocean holiday islands.

Speaking at his first press conference since taking office, Waheed rejected suggestions that Nasheed had been overthrown in a takeover orchestrated by opposition leaders and the security forces.

"It is wrong to describe the events as a coup. We did not know this was going to happen. I was unprepared," he said. However, in an exclusive interview with AFP, Nasheed insisted that he had been forced into resigning by a group of armed rebel police and army officers who had threatened a bloodbath if he refused.

"They told me if I didn't resign they would resort to use arms," Nasheed told AFP by telephone from a family property in the capital Male. He added that he feared Waheed "was in on it" and had seized the chance to take over.

"I am afraid he's always entertained an idea to become the president. He's never been able to do that. When the opportunity was available to him, he took it," he said. The army has denied playing any coercive role in the former president's decision to leave office.

In a speech at a meeting later in the day with senior leaders of his Maldivian Democratic Party, Nasheed formally called on Waheed "to step down" and urged the judiciary to bring the "coup" plotters to justice.