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The Government of the Maldives has said that, in the tense international climate that has resulted from the terrorist attacks on the United States, lies and fabricated allegations that seek to tarnish the image of the Maldives are being spread both within the Maldives and abroad, by parties that seek to sabotage the peace and security and the developmental progress being enjoyed by the people of the Maldives.

Immediately upon hearing the news of the terrorist attacks, President Gayoom had sent a message to President Bush.

In that message, the President condemned the terrorist attacks on the United States in the strongest possible terms and noted that the Maldives had always condemned all acts of terrorism everywhere in the world.

The lies being spread about the Maldives include the false allegation published on 20 September 2001 in a German daily that there were religious schools in the Maldives that taught violence to militant Muslims.

Following the publication of this allegation, the Government had issued a statement denouncing and condemning the false claim made in that newspaper.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had dispatched the statement issued by the Government of the Maldives to the newspaper that published the article and also to all foreign embassies accredited to the Maldives, to diplomatic and other missions of the Government of Maldives abroad, and to the Honorary Consul General of the Maldives in Germany.

The false allegations disseminated about the Maldives includes the baseless claim published in an article dated 22 September 2001 in the Internet site of Economic Times of India that the US Coast Guard had drawn up a list of 24 countries whose ships and crew would be banned from entry into any US ports, and that the Maldives was included in that list.

The Government of the Maldives requested, from the US government, a verification of the accuracy of the report following which the US State Department informed the Maldives Mission to the UN that the report was false and further expressed concern that such baseless reports were being circulated about the Maldives.

Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has send a message to President Gayoom denying the statement attributed to her in Germany's "Bild Zeitung" in its issue of 20 September 2001, alleging that there were religious schools in the Maldives "teaching militant Muslims violence".

In her message to the President, the former Prime Minister said that she had not made such a statement and, moreover, that she was aware that there were no such schools in the Maldives. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was replying to a message from the President in which he had brought to her attention the false allegation attributed to her by the newspaper.

In his message, the President said that the Maldives had always exercised great care not to allow the creation of an environment conducive to terrorism or any sort of such criminal activities in the Maldives and that Maldives had consistently condemned all acts of terrorism wherever they had taken place.

In the message sent to the President, the former Prime Minister said that the allegation made in the German newspaper was an incorrect statement and further said that the Maldives is an example of moderation in the spirit of Islam.

The former Prime Minister also said that she was aware of the President's own commitment to keep the environment of the Maldives free from criminal activities, especially terrorism.

She further said that she was a close friend of the Maldives and expressed her respect to the President's leadership, and said that she would be asking her press office to issue a public denial of the false allegation made about the Maldives and attributed to her in "Bild Zeitung" newspaper.

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