Exiled Maldives leader to stand for 2018 presidency

Former president of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, reacts during a news conference in central London, Britain January 25, 2016. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Exiled Maldivian leader Mohamed Nasheed said on Thursday he would return to the troubled Indian Ocean archipelago to contest a 2018 presidential election and called for international pressure on the government to allow him to run.

The Indian Ocean island nation has been mired in political unrest since Nasheed, its first democratically elected leader, was ousted in 2012. He was later sentenced to 13 years in jail on terrorism charges after a widely denounced trial.