The army in the Comoro Islands seized power in a bloodless coup yesterday to try to end a drive for independence by two of the Indian Ocean republic's three islands. An army spokesman, Capt Rachad Abdallah, said the army had overthrown the government of President Tadjiddine Ben Said Massonde to preserve national unity.
"The national army of development decided to intervene in order to prevent the country from plunging into chaos in order to preserve the traditional links uniting all the citizens of our country," Mr Abdallah said in a message on state radio following hours of martial music.
Mr Abdallah, spokesman for the chief-of-staff, Col Azaly Assoumani, said the constitution, parliament and high court had been suspended. The military takeover followed an agreement last weekend by Mr Tadjiddine's government to grant greater autonomy to the two smaller islands of Anjouan and Moheli, which declared their secession from the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros in August 1997.