Briton arrested in Maldives over bomb hoax

COLOMBO (AFP) - Police in the Maldives arrested a British man Monday after he caused a bomb scare aboard a SriLankan airlines flight from London that was diverted to the atoll nation, an official said.

The flight was heading for Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo but was forced to land in the Maldives where it was searched, Maldives police spokesman Ahmed Shiyam told AFP.

“We have taken a British passenger into custody.  We still don’t know why he said there was a bomb on the plane and caused panic,” Shiyam said, without identifying the man.

There was no immediate comment from state-run SriLankan Airlines.

The airline faced attacks during the 37-year ethnic war on Sri Lanka that pitched Tamil Tiger rebels against government troops.  

The fighting ended in May 2009 when the military wiped off the Tigers top leaders.