Coup leaders want to rejoin Comoros

Comoros has had 19 coups or coup attempts in 26 years

Military coup leaders have tightened their grip on the separatist Indian Ocean island of Anjouan and say they want to rejoin the Comoros.

A spokesman for the military committee, Salim Ali Abdou, told the BBC the new administration had been in touch with the Prime Minister of the Grand Comoros.

Mr Ali Abdou said they wanted regional autonomy and not total secession.

He said the ousted president Seid Abeid Abderemane, who is under house arrest, would be put on trial for corruption and abuse of power.

No new leader

So far no new leader has been announced.

The new rulers have urged civilians to return to work and not to be afraid.

In 1997, Anjouan declared that it had unilaterally seceded from the Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros and ever since has been rocked by instability and an uncertain status.

It complained that it did not receive its fair share of revenue from the export of ylang-ylang flowers used in perfume.

Neither the Federal Comoros Government nor the Organisation of African Unity has ever recognised Anjouan's independence.

Army support

BBC reporter Abubakar Mohammed says the coup leaders are fully backed by the army and that there have been no reported casualties in the coup.

Residents said that soldiers had taken control of strategic points such as the airport, sea port and radio stations and that they had arrested other members of the former government.

Correspondents say that the coup was staged while many of the Anjouan's political leaders were in Moheli - the federation's third island - studying a draft constitution intended to redefine relations between the Comoros islands.

There have been 19 coups or attempted take-overs in the Comoros islands since independence from France in 1975.

The Comoran authorities have been holding crisis meetings to assess the impacts of developments on Anjouan.