The 27-year-old man was arrested Oct. 24, weeks after an explosion aboard President Yameen Abdul Gayoom's boat that the authorities called an assassination attempt, Home Minister Umar Naseer said by phone from the Maldives' capital, Male. He said the suspect "knew that his target was the president."
There had been reports that a Sri Lankan man had been arrested, but the arrest was not confirmed until Saturday.
The Maldives has been tense since the Sept. 28 blast aboard Gayoom's speedboat and a series of arrests of people suspected of being involved in the explosion, including Vice President Ahmed Adeeb, who was later impeached in a no-confidence vote.
Gayoom was not hurt by the blast, but his wife, an aide and a bodyguard were injured.
The U.S. FBI, which investigated the explosion, said it found no evidence that it was caused by a bomb.
Naseer said that three plots on Gayoom's life have now been uncovered — the boat explosion, the arrested sniper and a homemade bomb in a parked vehicle close to the president's official residence. Earlier, an arms cache was found on an island being developed as a tourist resort.
Naseer said that the sniper's rifle had not yet been found, but that "police located a telescope and a bullet used in such a rifle."
Sri Lankan military spokesman Brig. Jayanath Jayaweera said that information gathered so far showed that the arrested man does not belong to any of Sri Lanka's armed forces.
On Wednesday, the Maldives declared a state of emergency, giving wide powers to the military and police to enter and search homes without warrants and make arrests virtually at will.
Best known for luxury island resorts and beaches, the Maldives has had a difficult transition to democracy since holding its first multiparty election in 2008, which ended 30 years of autocratic rule by Gayoom's half-brother.
Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected leader, resigned following public protests against his decision to order the arrest of a top judge in 2012.
In 2013, Gayoom defeated Nasheed in a disputed election in which the Supreme Court annulled the results of the first round, which Nasheed was leading, and delayed a revote until Gayoom was able to negotiate a winning coalition with other parties.
Nasheed is now serving a 13-year prison sentence under a terrorism law for his role in arresting the judge. His trial was widely criticized for its apparent lack of due process.
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