A young man lunged at Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom with a kitchen knife today in what his spokesman called an assassination attempt.
The attack took place on the island of Hoarafushi, one of the most populated in the northern Maldives, as Mr Gayoom (70) met supporters after the inauguration of a renewable energy project.
"He was shaking hands with supporters, when a young man came and tried to stab him with a large kitchen knife," the presidential spokesman said.
"He was saved by a boy who moved in the way and tried to grab the knife and suffered a serious injury to his hand," he added. "The president was not hurt, but the knife did catch his shirt. It was definitely an assassination attempt on his life."
The attacker, who was in his early 20s, has been arrested.
The spokesman said he suspected the attack was more likely the work of Mr Gayoom's political rivals than Islamist hardliners.
Mr Gayoom, who has ruled the chain of 1,200 mostly uninhabited islands in the Indian Ocean for three decades and is Asia's longest-serving ruler, faces the cluster's first ever multi-party elections this year, and is running for re-election.