Coup attempt foiled

A coup attempt this week against Colonel Azali Assoumani’s government in the Indian Ocean Comoro Islands has reportedly been foiled, according to news reports on Wednesday. It was the 19th coup attempt in the islands 300 km off the east coast of Africa since independence 25 years ago. According to official sources quoted by PANA news agency, the coup attempt was led by four military officers. A number of arrests were reported, gunshots were heard in the early hours on Tuesday and telephone lines were briefly disconnected. No-one was injured. The reports said the officers had apparently sought to take advantage of Assoumani’s current pilgrimage to Mecca. The South African foreign ministry said it was looking into the alleged coup attempt against Assoumani who himself seized power in a coup last year. Officials said they believed the attempted coup had been led by two sons of the islands’ first president, Ahmed Abdallah, who was himself assassinated in a coup in 1989.