African forces comb Comoros island for renegade leader
MUTSAMUDU, Comoros, March 26, 2008 (AFP) — Comoran and African Union troops combed Anjouan Wednesday, hunting for its renegade leader and fending off his die-hard supporters, a day after invading the Indian Ocean island.
Within hours of Tuesday's pre-dawn operation in which the 1,400 federal, Tanzanian and Sudanese soldiers exchanged fire with supporters of Mohamed Bacar, military officials said they had "located" him although it was not clear whether he had been detained.
The coalition staged its long-awaited landing in Anjouan's capital and main port of Mutsamudu, where they were greeted by cheering residents.
Bacar's re-election last year as president of Anjouan -- one of three islands forming the Indian Ocean federation -- has never been recognised by the international community and he has faced warnings of an invasion ever since.
Coalition forces "are deploying on the island... but you cannot secure control of the whole island in three hours," Defence Minister Mohamed Bacar Dossar told AFP in Moroni, the Comoros' federal capital.
An AFP reporter in Anjouan saw Bacar loyalists -- with red ribbons, the colour of the Anjouan flag, knotted around the barrels of their assault rifles -- near Bacar's residence in Barakani early Tuesday.
But the AU invasion force eventually flushed the rebels out of their positions and took control of the area.
"I can confirm that everything is over in Barakani. Our forces entered the residence, the soldiers searched the premises but Bacar wasn't there," senior government official Antoy Abdou told AFP.
Bacar's Dar el Najah presidential palace on the heights of Ouani, near Mutsamudu, was also deserted, an AFP correspondent reported. Sentry posts were empty, the building's doors wide open and undefended.
Small groups of Bacar loyalists -- believed to number barely 400 on the whole island and armed with rifles and rocket launchers -- offered some resistance around a key security compound and a fuel depot in Amirosy, near Mutsamudu.
Fresh artillery fire was heard early Wednesday near Ouani as clashes continued. Three people were wounded Wednesday, bringing to eight the number of civilians injured since the start of the operation, hospital sources said.
Government sources said several key aides of the Anjouanese president were arrested during the operation.
Comoros President Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi announced in a national televised address Monday that he had approved the long-threatened operation to reunify the three-island archipelago.
"I have ordered the Comoran army and the forces of our country's friends to bring Anjouan back under the rule of law and free her citizens," Sambi said, adding that he did so "without joy, like swallowing a bitter pill."
The government has promised swift elections after deposing Bacar.
Since winning independence from France in 1975, the Comoros archipelago -- whose name comes from the Arabic for "moon" -- have never known constitutional stability and faced 19 coups or coup attempts.
Anjouan, the federation's second largest island, is a scattering of villages home to 240,000 and known mainly as the world's leading exporter of ylang-ylang flowers and for its shady offshore banking industry.
Each of the three islands in the federation has its own leader, under a federal president.
Bacar, 45, was elected president of Anjouan in 2002. He was re-elected in June 2007 in a poll that was declared illegal by Sambi's federal government and was never recognised by the African Union.
He has run the territory as a breakaway province ever since.
In addition to the African Union, France, the country's former colonial power, has also given the operation to oust Bacar its blessing, and helped airlift the AU troops to the area.
Location of ComorosComoros, backed by African Union forces, has invaded the island of Anjouan in an effort to topple the rebel leadership of Mohamed Bacar, who has been seeking independence from Comoros.

Around 450 troops disembarked on Monday, landing in the capital of Mutsamudu on Tuesday at dawn, where a jubilant crowd cheered for them. They joined the nearly 1,500 African Union forces from Sudan and Tanzania, with Libya, France, and the United States providing logistical support for the operation.

The Comoros government says they have already captured most of the island. "The operation started in the early morning hours and it is going smoothly and according to plan," said Abdourahim Said Bakar, a government spokesman. "The military has taken control over most of the island - the airport and Anjouan's capital, Mutsamudu." 

There have been no official reports of casualties, but two African Union soldiers appear to have suffered minor injuries, and one reporter saw an elderly man being carried away after apparently being hit by a stray bullet. Sounds of machine guns and heavy artillery could be heard throughout the island.

Mohamed Bacar seized control of Anjouan in a 2001 military coup. After his term expired in 2007, he held his own elections in which he declared himself the winner. This election was viewed as illegal by Comoros and the African Union.

"We hope that by the end of the day we will have the problem resolved," the government spokesman said. "A special group has been selected to capture Bacar, arrest him and bring him to court. He has to pay for his crimes." 

The spokesman also outlined his priorities for Anjouan once the island is stabilized, which included holding elections within three months, disarming Bacar's miltias, and putting Bacar on trial for corruption and human rights abuses once he is found.

The troops met some resistance from supporters of Mohamed Bacar, armed with assault rifles and rocket launchers and numbering around 400. Some loyalists gathered near Bacar's residence in Barakani, but the military soon took control of the area. The residence was searched, but Bacar was nowhere to be found.

The Bacar loyalists have reportedly begun using guerrilla tactics against the invading forces. "I have over a hundred men and we will fight until we die," said Lieutenant Ibrahim Moussa of the loyalists. "It's God's will that will decide who is to win and who is to die. The invaders won't make it through."

Though one Comoros soldier reports that three of Bacar's highest-ranking supporters have been arrested, Bacar himself remains at large. The government spokesman says he has been seen fleeing to the island of Mayotte by canoe. 

"Colonel Mohamed Bacar has been spotted in the village of Sadanpoini where he is heading without doubt for a place to flee on board a kwassa (small canoe) towards Mayotte Island," Abdourahim Said Bacar said. "It seems, according to various sources, that he is dressed as a woman," he added.

However, this information has not been confirmed. "The Comoran command will not confirm any information regarding the arrest of Colonel Bacar," said reporter Franck Berruyer.
 
In a nationally televised address, Comoros president Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi said he had approved of the military operation. "I have ordered the Comoran army and the forces of our country's friends to bring Anjouan back under the rule of law and free her citizens," he said.

Meanwhile, South African president Thabo Mbeki denounced the operation. "It takes Comoros back to the use of force to solve a problem that could have been resolved with negotiations," he said in a televised statement. "There was no need to deploy troops."