President Thabo Mbeki flew out to Grand Comore island on Sunday morning to attend the inauguration of the island’s new head of state Mze Abdou Soule El-Bak, Mbeki’s office said.
Presidential representative Bheki Khumalo said Mbeki was scheduled to return on Sunday evening.
El-Bak, a former opposition legislator, won the presidential election on the largest of the three islands making up the Comoros Republic.
The election was the last in a series provided for in an international agreement to end attempts at secession and introduce political stability in the Indian Ocean nation by giving each of the islands greater control over its affairs.
Comoros has been plagued by more than 20 coups and several secession attempts since Grand Comore, Anjouan and Moheli obtained independence from France in 1975.
A fourth island, Mayotte, voted against independence and remains a French overseas territory.
Comoros, a nation of 596 000 people, lies 300 kilometres east of Mozambique. ? Sapa