Yearbook 2007
Comoros. Violence erupted on the island of Nzwani
(Anjouan) ahead of the local presidential elections in June.
The incumbent President Mohamed Bacar refused to step down,
even though his term in office had expired. Nzwani's
paramilitary police force attacked the Union troops sent to
the island to ensure that the elections could be conducted.
At least two soldiers were killed. Bacar, described by some
analysts as a separatist leader, eventually agreed to leave
the presidential post in order to stand for re-election. But
when Union President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi decided to
postpone the election on Nzwani, Bacar ignored it. He still
held the election June 10, claiming he won and installed as
president. The election was annulled by the Comorian
Constitutional Court. On the other two major islands, the
June 10 local presidential elections quietly proceeded.
Mohamed Abdouloihabi, former minister and chief of staff at
Sambi, won the election at Njazidja (Grand Comore). At
Mwali, businessman Mohamed Ali Said was elected president.
According to
CountryAAH, the African Union (AU), which sent soldiers and election
overseers to Nzwani, imposed sanctions on the island's
leadership in October-November to try to push new elections
there. Bacar demanded that the elections be redone in all
the islands. He refused to negotiate with the AU, which
extended the sanctions. No settlement was reached in 2007.
French mercenary Bob Denard, known for leading several
coups in the Comoros and other African countries, passed
away in October. Denard, who turned 78, had been sentenced
to four years in prison as late as July for his
participation in the coup attempt in the Comoros in 1995.
The verdict came after an appeal; the mercenary had
previously been sentenced to five years in prison in a lower
court.
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