Maldives returns as CMAG member

Maldives today returned as a fully participating member at the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) meet in London following its suspension last year.
Today's meeting at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, was the first scheduled meeting to take place since CMAG decided to permit Maldives' return to the Group at its meeting in September 2012, an official release said.
Maldives was suspended from the CMAG -- the most powerful panel of the Commonwealth body -- in February 2012, following the political crisis in the island nation and the ousting of former president Mohamed Nasheed.
Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdul Samad joined Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma, and the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Jamaica, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago and Vanuatu at the meeting.

CMAG is comprised of the foreign ministers of eight Commonwealth countries and deals with violations of the group's fundamental political values and sets the core membership criteria of the organisation.
CMAG's main task is to assess infringements and recommend measures to restore democracy and constitutional rule.