US welcomes lifting of emergency in Maldives

The US has welcomed lifting of State of Emergency in Maldives, a week after it was imposed citing threat to national security.
"We welcome the lifting of the state of emergency," State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters yesterday.
Over the weekend, the US had expressed concerns that provisions in the Anti-Terrorism law passed in Maldives last week and the subsequent State of Emergency could restrict human rights and fundamental freedoms.
"State of Emergency originally announced for 30 days from 4th November 2015. Now it ends on 10th November with immediate effect," a statement from Maldives Foreign Ministry said yesterday, adding that the overall security situation in the country had improved after the action taken by the security forces.

With the lifting of the emergency, all fundamental rights that were suspended, have been restored.
The emergency was declared by President Abdulla Yameen on November 4 for a period of 30 days after the government asserted that the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and the Maldives Police discovered a large cache of arms at two different locations in the country.
Last week, Maldivian Vice President Ahmed Adeeb was impeached by the Parliament overwhelmingly over the alleged attempt to assassinate Yameen.