/ 13 August 2001

ANJOUAN’S COUP LEADERS BACK ‘ONE COMORES’

A MILITARY triumvirate in charge of the breakaway Comoran island of Anjouan following a coup said on Friday it is committed to a process aimed at reuniting the Indian Ocean archipelago into a new entity. A statement identified the members of a three-man “politico-military transition commission” which took power on Thursday as gendarmerie chief major Mohamed Bacar and majors Hassane Ali Toiliha and Halidi Charif. The commission replaces Said Abeid Abderemane, a retired lieutenant-colonel from the French army who had led Anjouan since 1999, two years after the island unilaterally declared its independence. Mutsamudu, the main town on Anjouan, was reported to be calm on Friday, with soldiers in their barracks. The statement said the commission would remain in power until work on redefining the constitutional nature of the Comoro Islands was completed. This reconciliation process is enshrined in a framework agreement signed in February by leaders of the federation’s three islands: Anjouan, Moheli and Grande Comore, which will all receive a greater degree of autonomy. – AFP