The vice president of the Maldives has been arrested over a bomb plot to assassinate the president on his speedboat

© AFP/File Haveeru

The presidential speedboat Finifenma, where an attempt was made in September to assassinate Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen

Malé (Maldives) (AFP) - Maldivian authorities on Saturday arrested the nation's vice president Ahmed Adeeb in connection with a plot to assassinate President Abdulla Yameen, who escaped death after his boat was hit by a bomb last month, the home minister said.

"VP Adeeb under arrest and held in Dhoonidhoo Detention (prison island)," Home Minister Umar Naseer said on Twitter. "Charges: high treason."

A police official told Reuters that "we have arrested the vice president in relation to the Finifenmaa incident ... He is now in police custody in Dhoonidhoo detention center."