Political leaders from Comoros and the island of Anjouan are to finalise a framework agreement to end a three-year secessionist attempt and restore civilian rule in the Indian Ocean archipelago, AP reported. The deal, expected to be agreed on Friday, sets out a timetable for a constitutional referendum and elections to restore civilian rule in the three-island republic, officials said by telephone from the capital, Moroni. But the draft agreement is already in trouble because of Anjouan's insistence that clauses committing signatories to preserve Comoros' territorial integrity be omitted, the officials, who asked not to be identified, said. The Comoros archipelago has been plagued by coups, assassinations, military rule and attempted secession since independence from France in 1975. Representatives of the Comoros military ruler Colonel Azali Assoumane and his Anjouanese counterpart, as well as members of the political opposition, are to iron out outstanding issues in the deal in the Anjouanese capital, Mutsamudu. The deal is being brokered by the OAU, France and la Francophonie, a grouping of French-speaking nations. The separatist crisis erupted in July 1997 when the islands of Anjouan and Moheli announced plans to secede in an attempt to achieve a status similar to that of the French-ruled island of Mayotte, which had voted against independence. France rebuffed the attempt, and government troops were not able to put down the secession.
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