Separatists on the breakaway Comoran island of Anjouan who are seeking reunion with France, the former colonial power, yesterday elected 71-year-old Koranic teacher Abdallah Ibrahim as their president.
Elections will be held before the end of the year to allow the people of the "state of Anjouan" to "freely decide their future", the former prime minister, Mr Mohamed Abdou Madi, announced.
The separatists on Sunday made a unilateral declaration of independence from the Comoro Islands, which has a population of 600,000, drawing an embarrassed rebuff from Paris.
Mr Abdallah Ibrahim becomes president of the tiny island, lying between Madagascar and the African mainland, with Ms Fatima Mkiradjouma as vice president, plus a "cabinet" of 13 co-ordinators.
The Comoran President, Mr Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim, on Monday called on all citizens of his tiny three-island federation to favour "discussion [and] co-operation . . . to face together the major challenges that history and the present have imposed on them". The government has set up a crisis unit to try to establish contact with the separatists, while the Information Minister, Mr Mmadi Mogni Aziri, said a demonstration was planned to "call for calm and reason".
Mr Yves Doutriaux, assistant French foreign ministry spokesman, called for the Organisation of African Unity to intervene, noting that the pan-African body had already played "an essential role" in defeating a 1995 invasion of the Comoros by French mercenaries, which was ended by French troops.
The OAU announced on Monday that it would send a special envoy to the Comoros, saying that it stood "ready to assist the government and the people in facilitating dialogue".
Support for secession appears near-total on Anjouan, an impoverished, overcrowded island with high unemployment.
Meanwhile, Comoran troops went on "red alert" on Monday, prepared at a moment's notice to deploy in Mutsamudu, Anjouan's main town.
The separatists control the island, where clashes with security forces have left four dead and some 30 injured since March 14th.