Breaking News, World News and Taiwan News.

Updated Thursday, February 9, 2012 0:06 am TWN, By Krishan Francis and Hussain Sinan , AP

Sponsors
▪	Get the best deals for Guangzhou Hotels or choose from more than 10,000 hotels in 499 Chinese cities.
▪	Find great real time deals on China Flights. Book flights to China or China domestic flights 24/7.
▪	Buy china wholesale products from reliable chinese wholesalers on DHgate.com!
▪	Save 75% for all hotels in Shanghai, Beijing and whole China. Lowest rates for Flights in China.

Ex-Maldives leader vows to return to power

MALE, Maldives--The new Maldivian president called Wednesday for a unity government to lead his Indian Ocean nation even as his predecessor called his ousting a coup and began fighting to return to power.

President Mohammed Waheed Hassan, the former vice president, took office Tuesday when Mohamed Nasheed resigned after police joined widening street protests against his government.

Addressing a news conference Wednesday, Hassan denied claims there was a plot to oust Nasheed. He said he had not prepared to take over the country and he called for the creation of a unity coalition to help the country recover from months of political turmoil.

“Together, I am confident, we'll be able to build a stable and democratic country,” he said, adding that his government intended to respect the rule of law.

Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected president, was already fighting back. Speaking to about 2,000 wildly cheering members of his Maldivian Democratic Party in the capital, Male, Nasheed insisted he was forced from office in a coup and demanded Hassan's immediate resignation.

He demanded the nation's top judge investigate those he says were responsible for his ouster.

The party reaffirmed Nasheed as its leader and declared it would not join Hassan's planned coalition.

1|2|Next Page>>