NINE African countries will send advisers to the Comoros within 10 days to prepare for a peace conference in the strife-torn Indian Ocean archipelago. OAU chief Salim Ahmed Salim said in Pretoria on Thursday that the first task of the team, led by South Africa, will be to evaluate security on the breakaway island of Anjouan to establish if the situation is calm enough to convene an inter-island conference. The team also has to establish if “credible” secessionist leaders can be found to take part in talks. Speaking after a meeting of African foreign ministers, Salim, who sent a team of African generals to the Comoros last year to investigate the feasibility of military intervention, indicated that sending in troops is still a possibility.