Anjouan calm after three days of Comoros clashes

MUTSUMUDU, Comoros (Reuters) -- Secessionist rebels led by a French mercenary have put down an uprising by riotous youths in the breakaway Comoros island of Anjouan, residents and witnesses said Thursday.

A Reuters correspondent witnessed three days of violent clashes in Mutsumudu, capital of Anjouan. A communications embargo on the island prevented news of the fighting from emerging earlier.

Anjouan broke away from the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros in 1997 and has resisted international pressure, an economic embargo and abortive military intervention by government troops to go it alone.

The clashes ended late Wednesday with the arrest of at least 25 people, including some of the Indian Ocean island's leading citizens suspected of sympathizing with the rioters.

Those arrested include Anjouan's main opposition leader, Charikane Ahmed, the director of the Anjouan branch of the Comoros Bank of Industry and Commerce, Abdallah Mohamed and a locally well-known militant feminist, Antuaba Mohamed.

The fighting came less than a week after the secessionists signed an agreement with the Comoros military government which recognized each other's legitimacy until 2002.

Officials said the youths were opposed to the section that recognizes the Comoran government of President Azaly Assoumani, a colonel who seized power in a military coup last year.

Witnesses said the uprising was put down after militiamen led by an unidentified French mercenary overwhelmed the youths in the old quarter of Mutsumudu -- a labyrinth of narrow streets and alleys.

"More than 200 kg (440 pounds) of ammunition were used," said Commander Mohamed Bacar, head of the local gendarmerie.

The impact of the bullets was visible throughout the town and some residents reported looting.

Witnesses including a Reuters correspondent saw opposition leader Charikane Ahmed arrested and taken to a house where he was beaten up.

"What did I do? What did I do?," he screamed repeatedly, his cries carrying into the street.

In another development, the Comoran government announced the unilateral lifting of an economic embargo on the island.

Sanctions will be lifted Friday, according to a statement signed by government officials and a secessionist representative.

The Comoros -- made up of Grande Comore, Moheli, Anjouan and Mayotte -- were ruled by France until a referendum in 1975.

Mayotte voted to remain French, but the other three formed the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros until Moheli and Anjouan broke away, citing discrimination by the government on Grande Comore.

Moheli relented a few months later, but Anjouan has since been pressing to return to French rule -- a request dismissed by Paris.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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