Supporters of the Maldives former president rioted through the streets of the capital and seized some remote police stations Wednesday to demand his reinstatement,as the countrys new leader appealed for an end to the political turmoil roiling this Indian Ocean island nation. Allies said former leader Mohamed Nasheed and other top party officials were beaten by police in the street chaos. The nations first democratically elected president,Nasheed resigned Tuesday after police joined months of street protests against his rule. Late Wednesday,Nasheed supporters took control of some small police stations,police spokesman Amhed Shyam said. Nasheed said Wednesday he was forced to resign at gunpoint. We will come to power again, Nasheed said. I was forced to resign with guns all around me. They told me,if I dont resign,they wont hesitate to use arms, he said. Speaking to about 2,000 members of his Maldivian Democratic Party in Male,he called for new President Mohammed Waheed Hassans immediate resignation. Nasheeds party insisted his ouster was engineered by rogue elements of the police and supporters of the countrys former autocratic leader,whom Nasheed defeated in the first multiparty elections in 2008. Others blamed Islamic extremists. Hassan denied claims there was a coup or a plot to oust Nasheed. The former vice-president,said he had not prepared to take over the country and called for a unity coalition to be formed. Later in the day,he appeared to be consolidating his power by appointing a new military chief and police commissioner. Police were probing the discovery of at least 100 bottles of alcohol inside a truck removing garbage Tuesday from the presidential residence as Nasheed prepared to relinquish power,said Shyam,a police spokesperson. Consuming alcohol outside tourist resorts is a crime. If convicted of possession of alcohol,Nasheed could be sent to jail for three years,banished to a distant island,placed under house arrest or fined.
