Talks aim to end Anjouan secession

Envoys of the Comoros government arrived on the breakaway island of Anjouan for talks on Thursday, as the bite of a trade embargo aimed at forcing the island’s leadership to end their secession deepens, diplomatic sources told IRIN. News reports said the talks between the two sides are being held at Ouani airport, about five km from Mutsamudu, the island’s capital. Diplomatic sources said a basic deal had been worked out in talks on the island of Moheli, and the Anjouan meeting was to add details to an agreement that would end the three-year-old secessionist crisis. Anjouan has refused to sign an Organisation of African Unity (OAU) mediated accord drawn up in April last year at Antananarivo, Madagascar which guaranteed greater autonomy for the three Indian Ocean islands. Anjouan’s insistence on secession led to an OAU-sanctioned embargo in February, and in July the OAU summit called on a contact group of eastern and southern African countries to prepare contingency plans for military intervention. “The situation is still not clear but what has changed is that Comorians are talking among themselves and it seems to be a direct result of the OAU embargo,” a diplomat on the main island of Moroni told IRIN. “We have gathered they have decided to take as a reference the Antananarivo agreement, with the overall framework of one Comoros entity.” He added, however, that “it doesn’t mean that they have evolved from their traditional positions and are talking seriously. The Anjouanese may be trying to find a way to have the embargo lifted, and once that happens, THEY could go back to declaring secession.” There have been two rounds of trade embargoes on Anjouan since February, applied by the other two islands and Anjouan’s other trading partners, Madagascar and Mauritius. “The impact has definitely meant a lot of hardship for the people, and I guess also the leadership as they have felt compelled to discuss it at these talks,” a humanitarian source said. Anjouan is facing shortages of fuel and electricity, which has hit health services, despite a supposed “humanitarian corridor”. Telephone lines and travel links have also been cut, and the banks which are run from Moroni have closed. “It really shows that the islands are complimentary to each other, and cannot live independently,” the humanitarian worker said. See separate item: COMORO ISLANDS: OAU steps up the pressure issue on 14 August http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/comoro/20000814.phtml