The military ruler of the Comoro Islands said on Thursday that he will not restore civilian rule in the Indian Ocean archipelago until one of the three islands halts its attempts to secede, news reports said. “There will be no elections for a civilian administration until unity and border integrity of the Comoro Islands archipelago are restored with the recovery of Anjouan,” Colonel Azali Assoumane was quoted as saying. He also called for “tightening economic and communications sanctions against Anjouan to curb ... separatist leaders.” The island of Anjouan unilaterally declared independence in August 1997, complaining it was not receiving its fair share of export revenues. He said the country may take the first steps toward restoration of “constitutional order” at a three-day conference beginning on Friday. The conference was expected to deliberate on how the Anjouan crisis could be resolved and draft a new constitution, under which the military ruler would relinquish some of his sweeping powers to a prime minister and legislature.
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