COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A quick-thinking Boy Scout foiled an assassination attempt Tuesday on the president of the Maldives, grabbing an attacker’s knife as the man leapt from a crowd and lunged at the leader, an official said.
President Maumoon Gayoom was unhurt, government spokesman Mohammed Shareef said.
“One brave boy saved the president’s life,” he said.
Mohammed Jaisham Ibrahim, 15, who was wearing his blue Maldives scout uniform, was in the crowd to greet Gayoom on Hoarafushi, one of the 1,190 coral islands in the Indian Ocean that make up the Maldives.
The attacker hid a knife in the Maldivian flag, then lunged at the president, Shareef said. Ibrahim reached out and grabbed the blade, and he was cut on the hand, according to the government.
