Sri Lanka, May 24 -- The Maldives Journal has learned that the speaker of the Maldivian Parliament, President Mohamed Nasheed is presently brokering safe passage for beleaguered former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and his family.

Nasheed is currently in Sri Lanka, meeting heads of political parties. Nasheed went to Sri Lanka last week, and volunteered to coordinate international relief efforts for Sri Lanka, despite lacking any experience in that field. In the last few days, Nasheed has held several meetings with high-level political figures and lobbied to grant the Rajapaksa family a safe passage to the Maldives,the Maldives Journal reported.

Mahinda called Nasheed for assistance

A senior Maldivian government offici...