Reggae artiste Sean Paul gets online death threat
Amid a video issuing a death threat to world famous Jamaican artiste, Sean Paul if he appears at a government organised performance in the Maldives on New Year's Eve, the country's tourism ministry has assured that the show will go on.
The invitation to 41-year-old Paul, whose full name is Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques, who is due to perform at a free concert in Male, the capital had been made by the government’s tourism department.
A death threat has been posted online in the form of a YouTube video, warning Sean Paul, the Jamaican singer and Reggae star, that he should not perform at the concert.
The video message carries the logo of a group which claims to consist of Maldivian Jihadis with links to Syria.
The threat was written in the country's local language, on a piece of paper that had the Islamic states flag on it, and appeared in a YouTube video that said that it was a must for all Muslims to undertake Jihad in the name of Allah.
In the video, the statements were written on piece of paper held up by someone who could not be identified as that person was concealed.
While it is still unclear who uploaded the video, there exists in the video signage that points to Bilad Al Sham, a militant group that is part of Al-Qaeda in Syria.
They claim that there are around 20 Maldivians currently in Syria taking part in the activities of the militants.
But country's government has reacted by delivering a seemingly mixed message. While Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb said on social media that the concert would go ahead as planned, the Islamic Affairs Minister, Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, said that both the death threat and Paul’s appearance were unacceptable.
Meantime, back home, Managing Director of Headline Entertainment, which is responsible for bookings for the artiste, Jerome Hamilton, says the company is aware of the developing situation.
In a brief statement, Mr Hamilton says they are currently in contact with all related parties concerning the concert to address the matter. It added that no further details are available at this time.