Maldives vows to stem extremist threat

Violent extremism poses "one of the biggest threats" to the Maldives' national security, the president of the troubled honeymoon islands said yesterday, after a wave of Maldivians joined the Islamic State group.

Presenting a new national counter-terrorism strategy in parliament, President Abdulla Yameen said the government would work to tackle "violent extremism and terrorism" and safeguard the islands' prized tourist resorts.

While the president did not specifically mention Islamic extremism, according to the government nearly 50 people have travelled to war-battered Syria from the Indian Ocean archipelago, which is Sunni Muslim by law and has a population of about 350,000.

Defence Minister Adam Shareef told reporters on Thursday that 49 Maldivians had travelled to Syria to join the Islamic State group (IS).

To date there has been no violence by jihadists in the Maldives.

However, Yameen told the People's Majlis, or parliament: "Today, one of the biggest threats to the people and the national security of the Maldives emanates from the dangers posed by violent extremism and terrorism."

The strategy focuses on drafting new national security laws, improving intelligence gathering, safeguarding tourist resorts -- a major part of the archipelago's economy -- and beefing up its international cooperation on terrorism.