Known abroad for his activism against global warming which threatens to wipe his country off the map as sea levels rise, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom for the first time Saturday faced riots in the capital island, Male.

The unprecedented violence erupted following the killing of a convict in riots at the infamous Maafushi prison, located in another island some 45 minutes away from Male by speedboat.

Rampaging mobs set fire to vehicles, stoned public buildings and police stations and smashed state property -- scenes never seen before in the country of 250,000 Sunni Muslims, where there is simmering dissension against Gayoom, despite his firm standing at the polls.

"People were waiting for a moment like this," a Maldivian resident said by telephone, adding the violence had an undertone of displeasure with the administration of Gayoom, who has ruled since 1978.

The unrest coincided with an announcement by elections chief Ibrahim Rashad that Gayoom and four lesser-known candidates were in the fray for the presidency in elections due in October.

The violence was unrelated to the election announcement, but diplomats said rioters' attacks on the elections office and parliament were significant and danger signs for Gayoom as he prepares to sweep the vote.

Gayoom, 64, has survived at least three coup bids and diplomats here say the veteran leader should be worried about dissent, particularly among young people.

The biggest threat to Gayoom came on November 3, 1988 when Sri Lankan Tamil mercenaries led by a disgruntled Maldivian businessman, Abdullah Lutufi, tried to storm the capital island and seize power.

The attack was resisted and the mercenaries fled amid news that neighbouring India had despatched troops in aid of Gayoom and after Sri Lankan police placed an elite unit of commandos ready for deployment.

The Maldives now celebrates November 3 as National Victory Day.

Later, a palace coup that involved a brother-in-law also fizzled.

Gayoom afterwards introduced limited political reforms though a new constitution in 1998. Until then it had been a criminal offence to even publicly declare one's intention to seek the presidency.

Despite the changes, Gayoom has resisted calls for a multi-party system.

His loyalists defend the electoral system in which presidential candidates must first face a vote in the national parliament, the Majlis. The winner then goes before the people at a referendum to ratify the election.

Eight members of parliament are nominees of the president while most of the others hold government positions in addition to being legislators.

Maldivian Health Minister Ahmed Abdullah, visiting Colombo on his way to India and Bangladesh, said Saturday Gayoom was expected to sweep the October referendum.

At the last poll in 1998, Gayoom won 90.9 percent of the popular vote, garnering 86,504 of the 95,168 votes.

"There is no serious candidate to challenge the president," Abdullah told AFP. "The country and its neighbours need the continuity and the stability president Gayoom has provided."

Despite the rumblings by dissident groups that operate underground, Gayoom has ushered in economic progress that has given the Maldives the highest per capita income in South Asia -- 2,280 dollars a year.

His international activism has also made the nation of 1,192 coral islands, scattered 800 kilometres (520 miles) across the equator, a leader in the battle against rising sea levels.

He has spoken out against global warming since 1985 before it became a global buzzword.

Gayoom himself was nearly washed into the Indian Ocean in April 1987 when giant tidal waves swept Male.

"While I was inspecting the damage, a large wave reared up suddenly and buffeted the vehicle I was in," Gayoom wrote later. "It was a moment of fear, not for my own safety, but for the safety of the people of Maldives."

SPACE.WIRE