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The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) has appealed to the French government to help rescue an OAU peace mission stranded by rival factions in the strife-torn Comoran island of Anjouan. “The French have a base in the nearby island of Mayotte and all we are asking is that they send a helicopter in to rescue the members of our peace mission,” an African diplomat told IRIN on Friday. “Rival factions in Anjouan have blocked the main roads out of town and prevented them from getting to the airport.
They have been there since Monday this week. We are still awaiting a response from the French,” the diplomat said. The OAU delegation went to the Indian Ocean archipelago as part of new peace initiative aimed at resolving secessionist tensions on Anjouan. Once the mission is complete, the OAU is expected to convene an inter-island conference next month. The initiative was announced in the South African capital, Pretoria, on 1 February. At the time, OAU Secretary-General Salim Ahmed Salim said that if the mission found that security continued to deteriorate in Anjouan, or if the OAU did not get the cooperation of all sides, regional leaders, “should consider the adoption of all possible security measures to deal with the situation”.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions