Colombo: Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom today survived an attempt on his life when a teenage boy scout stopped a youth from stabbing him as he was mingling with a crowd in the north of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

The attacker, a 20-year-old wielding a knife, jumped out of a crowd that gathered to welcome the President on his arrival at North Thiladhunmathi atoll in Hoarafushi islet and tried to stab Gayoom in his stomach.

However, a 15-year-old boy scout, Mohamed Jaisham, grabbed the youth and wrestled with him before the attacker was captured, officials said. "An unidentified man attempted to attack the President with a knife today," a statement from the President's Office in the capital Male said.

"The President escaped this serious attack without any harm. However, a boy scout was injured in the incident," the statement said.

According to Maldivian Information Minister Mohamed Nasheed, Gayoom was greeting people when the youth pulled out the knife. "The attacker had hidden the knife wrapped in a national flag," a spokesman for Gayoom's office said, adding that he was now in police custody.

The motive for the attack was not known, police said adding, investigations were being conducted.

Source : PTI