Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed has resigned after three weeks of opposition-led protests boiled over into a police mutiny, handing power to Vice President Mohammed Waheed Hassan.
In a televised address, Mr Nasheed said that continuing in power would result in his having to use force against his people.
Mohamed Nasheed swept to victory in 2008, pledging to bring full democracy to the Indian Ocean archipelago famed for its luxury resort hideaways.
However, he recently drew opposition fire for his arrest of a judge he accused of being in the pocket of his predecessor Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled for 30 years.
That set off a constitutional crisis that has Mr Nasheed in the unaccustomed position of defending himself against accusations that he was acting like a dictator.
Earlier, police took over the state broadcaster and issued calls for people to come on the streets to overthrow the president, witnesses said.
The protests, and the scramble for position ahead of next year's presidential election, have seen parties adopting hard-line Islamist rhetoric and accusing Nasheed of being anti-Islamic.
The trouble has been largely invisible to the 900,000 or so well-heeled tourists who go every year to visit desert islands swathed in aquamarine seas, ringed by beaches of icing-sugar sands.
Most tourists are whisked straight to their island hideaway by seaplane or speedboat, where they are free to drink alcohol and get luxurious spa treatments.
Such resorts are insulated from the everyday Maldives, a fully Islamic state where alcohol is outlawed and skimpy beachwear frowned upon.
