Male (Maldives), Nov. 11 : Visiting Indian Vice President M. Hamid Ansari met former Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom at his private residence here on Tuesday.

Gayoom was the president of Maldives for almost 30 years. Ansari will also meet his successor Mohammed Anni Nasheed at President office and holds talks on a wide range of issues.

Male, Nov 11 : Mohamed Nasheed, a former political prisoner who defeated Asia's longest-serving ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, in the first multiparty election in the Maldives, today assumed the office of President of the Maldives

Nasheed, 41, took his oath of office in the presence of host of dignitaries, including Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari at a ceremony here.

Nasheed defeated Gayoom, who had led the nation for 30 years in a Presidential run-off on October 28.

Male – The first democratically-elected president of the Maldives was sworn in Tuesday, bringing an end to the three-decade rule of one of Asia's longest serving leaders, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, officials in the capital Male said.

Mohamed Nasheed, 41, who was elected president in a run-off election on October 28, defeated Gayoom after obtaining 54 per cent of the valid votes.

The capital Male was decked with flags of the Maldivian Democratic Party headed by Nasheed as he took the oath of office in a ceremony televised live.

Male, Nov 10 : Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari has arrived in Maldives’ capital Male on a two-day visit, where he will represent India at the swearing-in ceremony of the newly-elected President of Indian Ocean Island Republic, Mohammed Nasheed on Tuesday.

Forty-one-year-old Nasheed was elected as the President of Republic of Maldives in the first ever multi-party Presidential elections held on October 28, this year. He defeated Maumaoom Abdool Gayoom, who was undisputed ruler of the Maldives for 30 consecutives years.

Today, Ansari will take part in the reception hosted by the Indian High Commission.

London - The Republic of Maldives, known to most as a holiday paradise in the Indian Ocean, will set aside a proportion of its annual tourism revenue to buy land as an insurance policy against climate change, its president-elect has said.

Mohamed Nasheed, due to be sworn in Tuesday, told Britain's Guardian newspaper that the chain of 1,200 islands and coral atolls 800 kilometres from the southern tip of India was likely to disappear if climate change continued at the current pace.

He said a gradual rise in sea levels caused by global warming means the 300,000 Maldives islanders may eventually be forced to resettle elsewhere.

Male, Maldives/Colombo - A former political prisoner has been elected as the Maldives' new president, ending Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's record as one of Asia's longest-serving leaders, officials in Male said Wednesday.

Gayoom, 71, was denied a seventh-consecutive term in Tuesday's run-off election and is to be succeeded by Mohamed "Anni" Nasheed, a 41-year-old activist who was once imprisoned by Gayoom's government.

Election Commission officials in Male said Nasheed received 54.21 per cent of the 174,250 votes cast against Gayoom's 45.7 per cent. Turnout was 83 per cent, they said.