Maldives could become a terror hub, fears US

Is the Obama Administration concerned that the tiny Maldives could become a future base for the al Qaeda and/or other terrorist groups to conspire and launch their attacks against Washington and its South Asian allies?
 
On September 7, the White House transmitted a directive from President Barack Obama to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seeking eligibility of the Maldives "to receive defense articles and defense services" under the Foreign Assistant Act of 1961 and the Arms Control Export Act".
 
Obama wrote Clinton that "I hereby find that the furnishing of defense articles and defense wervices to the Maldives will strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace."
 
He instructed Clinton to transmit "this determination to the Congress and arrange for its publication in the Federal Register."

The administration's pointman for South Asia, Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake, asked about the rationale for the President directive and if it indicated that Maldives faced a potential threat from its neighbors or from terrorist groups, said, "Not so much a threat from neighbors, but Maldives faces a number of different challenges."
 
"First of all, there are terrorists that come through the Maldives --that transit through the Maldives," he said, and added, 'The Maldives has a particular problem in that they are a nation of many, many different small islands."
 
Thus, Blake argued, "They face a particular challenge in terms of maintaining the ability to monitor what's going on in their seas. They also sit astride some of the major sea-lanes in the world. So, it's very important that they have the ability to monitor activity...." and acknowledged, "occasionally, there are terrorists and others who try to make use of Maldivian territory."
 
The senior US official pointed out that "Maldives is a very moderate Muslim nation that works very closely with the United States and others. So, we have an interest in helping them in small ways to do what we can to help address their challenges."

Consequently, Blake explained that "the purpose of the statement that the President put out was really just to provide the legal framework that allows us to provide this modest military assistance," to the Maldives.
 
But, he noted that as of yet, "We don't have any assistance to announce," but reiterated that "we have the framework now to make that happen."