Press TV- Members of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) have warned of the�serious consequences of Saudi Arabia�s plan to gain full control of an entire atoll in the South Asian island country.

Saudi Arabia�s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud will pay a rare visit this month to six Asian countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Japan, China, and the Maldives.

MDP members warned on Friday that the decision�by President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom�s government to �sell� Faafu, one of the 26 atolls, to Saudi Arabia would aggravate Wahhabism in the country.

Maldives�is reportedly�one of the highest per capita contributors of foreign militants�to the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, which has been�wreaking havoc mainly in Syria and Iraq.

Wahhabism is the radical ideology dominating Saudi Arabia, freely preached by government-backed clerics there, and inspiring terrorists worldwide. Daesh and other Takfiri terror groups use the ideology to declare people of other faiths as �infidels� and then kill them.



[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="555"] An aerial view of Faafu Atoll's Nilandhoo Island (file photo)[/caption]

MDP member and former foreign minister, Ahmed Naseem, said the Maldivian government had�not bothered to take people's consent.
�In the old days, selling land, which is scarce in Maldives, to foreigners would have been seen as high treason punishable by death,� he said.
The Maldivian government passed a constitutional amendment in 2015, allowing foreigners to possess lands in the country.

Meanwhile, in a report, The Times of India�described Maldives' potential sale of the atoll to Saudi Arabia as "another security challenge" to India in its neighborhood.



[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="555"] Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with Maldives� President Yameen Abdul Gayoom before a delegation-level meeting in New Delhi on April 13, 2016. (Photo by AP)[/caption]

India has been unwilling to be seen as obtruding upon the internal affairs of Maldives. However, it may soon be required to take a position with Maldives� presidential election likely next year, the report said.

Maldives remains the only country in India's neighborhood that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has refrained from visiting.