Maldivian crisis still concerns U.N.

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UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (UPI) -- All parties to the political conflict in Maldives should work together to find a peaceful resolution to their differences, the U.N. secretary-general said.

Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed was ousted in an apparent coup in mid-February. U.N. officials called on all sides to find a peaceful solution to the crisis after skirmishes continued in the capital Male.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a statement issued through his spokesman's office, said the post-coup crisis must be resolved through peaceful means.

"The secretary-general urges all parties concerned to resume immediately their political dialogue, both in and outside Parliament, in order to find a mutually agreeable way forward on the basis of the constitution and without jeopardizing the democratic gains achieved thus far in the Maldives," the statement read.

The United Nations said it was reviewing reports that demonstrators blocked the opening of a parliamentary assembly where President Waheed Hassan was to deliver his inaugural address.

Pro-democracy group Friends of Maldives, which has its main offices in Britain, told The Daily Telegraph newspaper in London last month that the coup was backed by resort owners.

A former presidential adviser told the British newspaper on condition of anonymity that resort owners in Maldives were the "godfathers" of the country's politics.