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Former prisoner is now president

A former political prisoner who defeated adversary in the first multiparty election in the Maldives was sworn in as president of the Indian Ocean archipelago yesterday.

"No other citizens in the world in modern times have changed a 30-year-old regime so peacefully. I congratulate the Maldivian citizens," Mohamed Nasheed, 41, said shortly before signing his presidential oath to thundering applause and a 21-gun salute.