THE Organisation of African Unity has decided to impose travel and financial restrictions on leaders of the Anjouanese separatist movement in the Comoros islands. The sanctions are a bid to force the separatists to commit to negotiations on the future of the break-away island, according to a statement issued by OAU Secretary General Salim Ahmed Salim and South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Salim and Dlamini-Zuma, who heads an OAU team on the Comores, accused the Anjouanese of reneging on promises to sign an agreement by February 1 that would pave the way for talks. The sanctions will target leaders and backers of the separatist movement and will include freezing their bank accounts and not recognising their travel documents. The OAU has refused to accept the results of a referendum on independence in Anjoaun last month in which the separatists claimed a massive victory.