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'I was prepared,' says Scout who foiled Maldives assassin

MALE, Maldives - For the Boy Scout who dreams of becoming a police officer, grabbing the knife of a would-be assassin lunging for the president of the Maldives was a crash course.

That Mohamed Murshid, 20, may have been an Islamic extremist is only adding to the tale of the 15-year-old's bravery, even as it threatens the Maldives' reputation as a peaceful tropical paradise for well-heeled foreigners.

"The Scouts saying is 'be prepared,'" Mohammed Jaisham Ibrahim said Thursday. "I was prepared."

Officials have so far played down the Islamic extremism angle in the attack, saying Tuesday's attempted assassination of President Maumoon Gayoom may have been politically motivated but offering no details.

Police arrested Murshid and picked up four suspected accomplices on Wednesday.

Ibrahim said he had no doubt the alleged attacker was a militant or inspired by an extremist vision of the world, a view seconded by people who know the suspect.

"He had a long beard; he shouted 'God is great' when he took out his knife," Ibrahim said from a hospital where he is recovering from wounds to his hand.

[Last modified January 11, 2008, 01:47:10]