Maldives museum missing major treasures

The Maldives’ national museum reopened yesterday without some of its most valuable exhibits a week after a mob of suspected religious extremists smashed images from the pre-Islamic era of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Museum director Ali Waheed said 99 per cent of the Maldives’ pre-Islamic artifacts from before the 12th century, when most inhabitants were Buddhists or Hindus, were destroyed.

“Some of the pieces can be put together but mostly they are made of sandstone, coral and limestone, and they are reduced to powder,” he said.

The mob of suspected Muslim extremists attacked the museum during the Maldives’ unfolding political crisis which has seen weeks of protests. Last week President Mohamed Nasheed stepped down.