The president of the Comoros in the Indian Ocean, Mohammed Taki, has dismissed the prime minister and his government.

A presidential decree said merely that the functions of the government had come to an end.

It is the third time President Taki has dismissed his government since he took power in 1996.

The latest administration, led by Nourdine Bourhane, had been in place only since December.

There was rioting and a general strike on the main Comoran island, Grand Comore, earlier this month after opposition groups joined thousands of unpaid civil servants and unemployed young people protesting against the government's economic policies.