Saturday
20th Apr 2024
Dhivehi Edition
Abdullah Lutfy. Photo: RajjeMV
Abdulla Luthfee, who orchestrated a devastating coup d'état in the Maldives on November 3, 1988, stated that First Lady Fazna Ahmed’s father, (Sikka) Ahmed Ismail Manik asked him to assassinate the former President Maumoon Abdul Qayyoom.
Speaking to TMJ, while incarcerated, Luthufee said that his business partner, Sikka Ismail Ahmed Manik knew all the details of the attack on November 3. The duo had a duck farm business in neighboring Sri Lanka.
Luthufee said that Sikka’s first request regarding the attack was to assassinate President Maumoon. He said that although Sikka had not directly financed the attack, their joint business had contributed part of its income to the cause and both partners were completely aware of the plan of attack.
Luthufee said that Sikka had even encouraged and motivated him to push him towards the coup. He said that Sikka talked about the president’s crookedness to further his point that the government must be overthrown.
Moreover, Luthufee said that Sikka shared much-needed intel he found through the former Foreign Secretary, Ibrahim Hussain Zaki. He said that Ibrahim Hussain Zaki and Sikka were good friends and Zaki did not hesitate to tell Sikka anything. However, Luthufee said that Zaki was unaware of the impending attack and Zaki did not know that Sikka was spying for him either.
When questioned whether Sikka aided the coup to become a ruler himself, Luthufee stated that it was unlikely that that was Sikka’s end goal. He said that what Sikka wanted was to change the government since they believed that Maumoon was unfit to rule.
Sikka Ahmed Ismail Manik was sentenced to 15 years in jail for his role in the Victory Day coup d'état. However, after spending 2 years in prison, he went to India for medical reasons, where he spent 4 years of his sentence. He was granted the Presidential Pardon upon his return and has been free ever since.
On the other hand, Luthufee was sentenced to life in prison when he was allowed to leave for medical purposes when he stayed in Sri Lanka. After the easter bombing incident in Sri Lanka, Luthufee stayed at the Maldivian Embassy in Sri Lanka but when he was caught, he was brought back to Maldives.
He was then sentenced to an additional 7 months and 18 days in jail in addition to the remainder of his first sentence. While Luthufee is nearing the end of his sentence, Sagaru Nasir, also sentenced to life in jail in the same case is now free after completing his jail term.