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As
far as can be ascertained, the only country with which the
Republic of the Maldives has a territorial dispute is the
United States of America.
Article
2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Maldives is the most
recent piece of Maldive legislation against which the United
States objects. The article states that:
"The
territory of the Maldives shall comprise the land, air
space, sea and seabed within the archipelagic baselines
of the Maldives drawn in accordance with the law, and
shall include the territorial waters, the seabed and airspace
thereof beyond the said baselines".
The
archipelagic baselines system of the Maldives is defined by
the following geographical co-ordinates:
|
POINT
|
LATITUDE
|
LONGITUDE
|
|
B1
|
07°
03' 54" N
|
72°
47' 45" E
|
|
B2
|
07°
04' 35" N
|
72°
48' 07" E
|
|
B3
|
07°
04' 47" N
|
72°
48' 21" E
|
|
B4
|
07°
05' 44" N
|
72°
50' 34" E
|
|
B5
|
07°
06' 35" N
|
72°
53' 50" E
|
|
B6
|
07°
06' 35" N
|
72°
54' 13" E
|
|
B7
|
06°
58' 07" N
|
73°
12' 46" E
|
|
B8
|
06°
57' 37" N
|
73°
13' 14" E
|
|
B9
|
06°
55' 31" N
|
73°
13' 53' E
|
|
B10
|
05°
23' 20" N
|
73°
38' 20" E
|
|
B11
|
05`
22' 05" N
|
73°
35' 10" E
|
|
B12
|
04°
27' 28" N
|
73°
43' 18" E
|
|
B13
|
03°
27' 27" N
|
73°
46' 13" E
|
|
B14
|
02°
08' 04" N
|
73°
35' 18" E
|
|
B15
|
00°
25' 51" N
|
73°
35' 10" E
|
|
B16
|
00°
18' 25" S
|
73°
26' 37" E
|
|
B17
|
00°
39' 45" S
|
73°
13' 07" E
|
|
B18
|
00°
41' 30" S
|
73°
11' 12" E
|
|
B19
|
00°
42' 22" S
|
73°
10' 02" E
|
|
B20
|
00°
42' 24" S
|
73°
09' 08" E
|
|
B21
|
00°
42' 11" S
|
73°
08' 40" E
|
|
B22
|
00°
41' 13" S
|
73°
07' 30" E
|
|
B23
|
00°
40' 23" S
|
73°
06' 52" E
|
|
B24
|
00°
39' 18" S
|
73°
06' 23" E
|
|
B25
|
00°
35' 33" S
|
73°
04' 33" E
|
|
B26
|
00°
23' 55" N
|
73°
00' 08" E
|
|
B27
|
00°
29' 21" N
|
72°
59' 09" E
|
|
B28
|
00°
32' 22" N
|
72°
59' 38" E
|
|
B29
|
02°
25' 09" N
|
72°
53' 05" E
|
|
B30
|
02°
47' 50" N
|
72°
49' 14" E
|
|
B31
|
03°
37' 38" N
|
72°
41' 49" E
|
|
B32
|
03°
47' 09" N
|
72°
41' 49" E
|
|
B33
|
03°
52' 15" N
|
72°
42' 03" E
|
|
B34
|
04°
01' 50" N
|
72°
42' 11" E
|
|
B35
|
04°
05' 13" N
|
72°
42' 36" E
|
|
B36
|
04°
13' 46" N
|
72°
44' 14" E
|
|
B37
|
06°
14' 12" N
|
72°
33' 19" E
|
Previous
objections have been based on the Maldives statute number
32/76 of December 1976 and number 6/96 of June 1996.
The
1976 law stated that:
"Foreign
warships and military aircraft must obtain permission
prior to transiting territorial sea."
The
1996 law states that:
"Foreign
warships must have prior permission to enter the territorial
sea of the Maldives."
The law further claims archipelagic waters as internal
waters.
| Feedback |
|
From:
"mohmed" msuad@hotmail.com
To: majid@maldivesroyalfamily.com
Sent:
Thursday, 7 November 2002 03:20 Subject: Battery
Hey your claim that Battery at Lonuziyaaraikolhu
is more than a joke. That doesn't exceeds a few
KM. So how on earth it could be targeted at US
flights? Do you think Maldivians are insane and
do this....?
Your
Higness please keep your crown and shut up....
Maldives
Royal Family Website inquiries with our contacts
inside the NSS so far indicate that the individual
who wrote the above mail may be an official of
the Maldive Ministry of Defence and National Security.
He may be the son of a senior officer of the NSS.
No doubt, we have touched a raw nerve.
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The
United States first declared that it did not recognise
these Maldive claims in 1982 and subsequently in 2000.
The
United States conducted operational assertions of its
objections, some of which included overflights, several
times between 1981 and 1985 and then in 1987, 1989,
1990, 1992-1994, 1998 and 2001.
Between
1981 and 1985 the Maldives National Security Service
(NSS) installed an anti-aircraft battery on the south
eastern point of Malé called Lonu-ziyaaraiykolhu
and regularly fired at United States aircraft. The United
States aircraft always flew above the range of the Maldives
National Security Service artillery.
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Links
with the Axis of Evil
 The
original anti-aircraft battery at Lonu-Ziyaaraiykolhu
was "a hand-me-down" from Saddam
Hussain. It was part of Saddam's arsenal
in Basra intended to terrorise Iraq's marsh Arabs.
The gun was never in a very good state of repair.
An NSS officer was badly injured when the gun
backfired. He had to undergo extensive surgery
when shrapnel lodged in his face and other parts
of the body.
The
NSS arsenal consists of more than 400 AK-47 rifles
donated by Saddam Hussain, still displaying the
serial numbers of the Iraqi armed forces. There
is also a considerable quantity of weapons given
by Muammar el-Gaddafi of Libya. Since Operation
Desert Storm, such weaponry is not allowed to
be seen in public.
An
example of Maldive public opinion following September
11, 2001
|
British
volunteers in Malé and American volunteers in
Maalhosmadulu atoll dubbed the site of the anti-aircraft
battery "Gun Point" in 1982 because of the
NSS artillery fire.
NSS
target practice at "Gun Point"
possibly not at the United States Air Force on this
occasion
From
the archives of Bandeyri Koshi
U.S.
weapons systems licensed for export to the NSS
during
1997-98
|
|
System
|
Quantity
|
US$
|
| Night
vision scopes, spares and components |
|
15,181
|
| Radio
set (components and spare parts) |
|
63,982
|
| Rifle
M-16 (all models) for use in the SPG- the Special
Protection Group previously called the "Delta
Force" |
50
|
43,000
|
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