A top Malagasy official on Monday denied news reports that the government had suspended beef exports to the Comoros in retaliation for the neighbouring island's perceived support for ousted president Didier Ratsiraka. Bruno Ranarivelo, Madagascar's consul-general in South Africa, downplayed suggestions that the export ban was politically motivated, saying the suspension was due to the broader restructuring of the agricultural sector and was "not intended to single out Comoros". "The government announced the suspension in mid-August following concern over dwindling cattle stocks and some irregularities in the paperwork. The decision to suspend our cattle exports affects all of the countries we export cattle to and not only Comoros. But as far as our neighbour [Comoros] is concerned, we noticed that it was receiving four times more than the total declared at customs in Madagascar. "We just want to legalise the paperwork. We don't have a political problem," Ranarivelo said. The Comoros-based Al-Watwan newspaper last week reported remarks purportedly made by Madagascar's Prime Minister Jacques Sylla in a letter to Comorian authorities. "We have decided to suspend the exportation of cattle to the Comoros for major reasons ... of more or less being accomplices of certain dignitaries of the former regime in Madagascar," Al-Watwan reported Sylla as saying. "Comoros was one of the first countries to recognise the new government in Madagascar. There are ongoing negotiations between the two governments over the cattle exports. We are confident that it will be resolved soon. However, the delay has caused some concern among businessmen on the island," Bacar Salim, Comoros chargé d'affaires in South Africa, told IRIN. A researcher at the Pretoria-based Africa Institute, Siphamandla Zondi, told IRIN that bouts of political instability in the two countries had affected their relationship. "Due to the proximity of Comoros to Madagascar they would suspect that some opposition supporters are being harboured by their neighbour. If people are being harboured in the Comoros, it is more likely a group of people taking advantage of instability in the Comoros. I don't think it is the policy of the Comoros," Zondi said. A source in the Malagasy capital, Antananarivo, told IRIN that the ban could also be related to the high incidence of cattle rustling within Madagascar.
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