COMORO ISLANDS: OAU to Step up Mediation

By Moyiga Nduru Reprint | | Print |

Moyiga Nduru

NAIROBI, Sep 4 1997 (IPS) - The invasion by Comoran troops of the renegade island of Anjouan will not stop regional efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis dogging the Indian Ocean archipelago, says the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).

OAU special envoy Pierre Yere said on Thursday that the pan- African body had advised against military action in the rebellious islands of Anjouan and Moheli, part of The Comoro islands.

The Comoro Islands, an archipelago of four small islands, lies between the East African coast and the North-western coast of Madagascar. The French names for the four islands are Grande- Comore, where the capital Moroni is situated, Anjouan, Moheli and Mayotte.

“On Tuesday, I launched an appeal to the government (of President Mohamed Taki Abdulkarim) not to use force, but they used it,” he told journalists.

It was only after the skipper of two ships carrying some 300 loyal Comoran troops landed on Anjouan island on Wednesday that Yere was summoned to the foreign ministry in Moroni, and was conveyed the news.

“Our objective right now is to bring all these people together around a negotiating table,” he said.

The OAU launched its mediation bid in July after Anjouan and Moheli declared unilateral independence from the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros.

Secretary-General Salim Ahmed Salim, who appointed Yere to sort out the conflict, said the OAU would help the government in Moroni to address the thorny issues raised by the separatist elements in Anjouan and Moheli.

Three of the four Comoro islands, with a combined population of some 540,000, won independence from France in 1975. The fourth, Mayotte, had opted in a 1974 referendum to remain under French administration.

Twenty-two years on, some of the residents of Anjouan and Moheni, who account for half the federation’s population, are now changing their minds about independence which, they say, has brought only poverty, civil strife and numerous coups. They want to return to French rule.

The rebels appear to be attracted by the higher standard of living, elaborate social security system and the regular payment of civil servants enjoyed by the people of Mayotte.

France has however, ruled out bringing the islands once more under French administration. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yves Doutriaux has made it clear that Paris would only back efforts by the OAU to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in the Comoros.

“I told the people in Anjouan and Moheli that the OAU does not agree with their decisions to revert to French rule,” said Yere.

Yere, who is Cote d’Ivoire’s ambassador to Ethiopia, held a series of talks with leaders in Moroni and in Mutsamudu, the capital of Anjouan, soon after the separatists there announced their unilateral independence on Aug. 3. He also met with leaders on Moheli, who declared their independence after Anjouan’s.

Last month OAU Secretary General Salim also warned that the secessionist movement in Anjouan and Moheli represents a dangerous precedent for the Indian Ocean archipelago’s neighbours.

“Anjouan and Moheli are not far from Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya,” he said. “The consequences of their moves will be felt beyond their borders.”

The OAU has been insisting for face-to-face talks between Comoro’s belligerents. But Yere said the Taki regime had asked the OAU to postpone until October its all-party conference on the crisis. The talks at the OAU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, are scheduled for Sep. 10-17.

It is not clear whether the talks will take place as scheduled, given the magnitude of animosity sweeping the federation following the invasion of Anjouan.

Local journalists in Moroni say the Comoros military high command is split over the invasion. “Army commander, Colonel Mualim, thinks that military invasion will only widen the gap between the people of Grande-Comoro and Anjouan. He has been insisting on talks and on a political solution,” Comoran journalist Hamdi Mohamed told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) African Service on Thursday.

He said a group of hawkers, led by Colonel Hassan Harona, seemed to be winning the argument. “Colonel Hassan Harona thinks that they must restore order first and talk later,” he said.

Unconfirmed reports say that government troops are meeting stiff resistance from rebel soldiers and civilians in Anjouan. The government has not yet released any statement in connection with the military development in Anjouan, where telephone lines have been disconnected since Sep. 1.

But reports received by radio quoted the Red Cross as saying on Thursday that 15 of its staff had been arrested in Anjouan while they were looking after civilians.

The Comoro islands had been rocked for weeks by a series of labour disputes over non-payment of salaries. In August, the governor of Grande Comore, Aboubacar Boina, banned all demonstrations by political groups and trade unions until the secessionist trouble in Anjouan and Moheli are resolved.

Wage arrears are reported to be standing at 12 months, but President Taki said he would address the issue only after resolving the crisis on the two rebel islands.