There has been as assassination attempt on Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, according to a presidential spokesman.
Spokesman Mohamed Shareef said Mr Gayoom was unharmed in the incident in which a young man lunged at the president with a kitchen knife.
He said the president had been shaking hands with supporters when a young man came and tried to stab him with a large kitchen knife.
The president was saved by a boy who moved in the way and tried to grab the knife, suffering a serious injury to his hand, the spokesman said.
Mr Gayoom, who has ruled the chain of 1,200 mostly uninhabited islands 500 miles off the coast of India for three decades, is Asia's longest-serving ruler.
He faces the cluster's first ever multi-party elections this year.
